I have a confession to make: Sometimes I write in a state of total rant. This is hardly a surprise to anyone who’s read this blog frequently. These rants are the definition of reactionary writing — that is, they are simply exhalations of pent-up emotion, and aren’t necessarily indicative of any careful logic or reasoning. Do I believe and stand behind what I say in these rants? Sure. But I also recognize that I’m not necessarily “right.” It’s all a big subjective cesspool of human interpretations, this Internet game (and life in general) — there IS no “right.” Plus, being “right,” at the end of the day, really isn’t all that fun. Far more fun is stirring up strong opinions from others, and inciting debate, and getting people to FEEL something. Inspiring people to talk about topics they’re passionate about (even if it’s how much they collectively loathe you) — that really is one of the things I love most about being a writer.

Yes, this is all leading up to something. This. Read and interpret at will. My Godsend boyfriend asked a good question: “How can you put something like this out there, without any control over what people think?” Well, a few years back I had a revelation: People will form judgments and opinions of you. It’s what we inherently do as a species. They’ll judge what you say and do and talk about it with so-and-so and Oh can you BELIEVE she did this and that she is such a blah blah blah and on and on ’til we die.

So given this state of affairs, you might as well be the fullest, most self-expressed version of yourself. And if you’re someone who likes to stir things up every once in a while, so be it. And people will form opinions and talk about how you’re so dead-on, or how you deserve to have your eyes gouged by rabid ostriches and your tongue stabbed with a fork etc etc etc. And it’s all “right,” and it’s all “wrong.” ‘Cause Lord knows, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.