I Don’t Write to Change Your Mind and You’re Not Going to Change Mine

Photo by Fakurian Design on Unsplash

I don’t want to sound like I’m not open, because I am. I consider and reconsider my stance on issues all the time. Sometimes I do an entire 180 degrees on an issue, but what I also know, is that that type of change has to come from within. I’ve written about how my stance on the COVID-19 vaccine changed. While I was influenced by external circumstances, it was ultimately the personal desire to live and not die, that changed my mind.

I don’t write articles that can imminently decide if you live or die. I don’t think that my writing will change anyone’s mind.

No, I don’t write without purpose. I write for a reason.

This isn’t to say I need an echo chamber. I’m not saying that you can’t read my writing if you don’t agree with me, or that I’m not open to opposing viewpoints, but to what end?

I write to connect with the like-minded. I write to give a better understanding — or provide nuance — if you’re open.

I love to get responses where a reader of my work thanks me for articulating something they’ve also felt, or providing them with a perspective they hadn’t considered, or opening their eyes to something they weren’t aware of.