A mission statement for a new blog

Write what you know. What curious advice this is, for I often feel as if I don't know what I know until I write it down.

There's a term for this: epistemology, which is the theory or science of the method or grounds of knowledge, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. I don't know a whole lot about the scientific field, but for my own purposes, I think there are three ways of, basically, getting smarter. Simply put, they are:

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One of the things I learned as an undergraduate which has really stuck with me was something that a professor who I never took a class from said in passing during a chance meeting I had with him. We were talking about the possibility of my doing graduate work, and he said something about "when you're older, when you've read more and gotten smarter."

Isn't it funny, the way it sometimes takes someone saying something for us to get it? Of course I knew that reading makes you smarter, but until I heard this guy say it, I didn't realize that I knew it. The purpose of education is to introduce ourselves to new ideas and to broaden the way we think. Professors do this very well, but books do too.

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Another professor (one I did take classes from) gave me a piece of advice which is now famous among my family and close friends: the way to become a better writer is to work for a year at a 7-11. This is not something I ever intended to do, but I see his point. The way to better understanding, to a greater knowledge of the world, and to a greater sensibility and flexibility as a writer is to gain new experiences.

This fall I will be moving to London to begin a Master of Arts program (should I write programme?) in English at University College London. As Samuel Johnson said, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." I am looking forward not only to what I will see and learn in London, but the opportunities in my most favorite of cities for jobs in publishing.

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This brings me back to my original thought. In London I'll be furthering my education and also trying to make it in the publishing industry and as a freelance writer and Copy Editor. This blog will reflect my thoughts about what I'm reading, what I'm doing, and what I'm writing. It is an intellection: an attempt to understand the world around me and the place I am making for myself in it.