All I can say is, it’s time. It’s time to finally get back to writing. There may be some who used to read my blog entries*, and if so, perhaps they wondered where I went when I quietly slipped out of the blogosphere over one year ago now.
It may be an overused excuse, but in this case it’s true (and I hope it will be understood): I’ve been busy. To be specific, I have been hard at work pursuing a degree in professional accounting at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. I’ve enrolled in heavy course-loads year round (even summer), and anyone who has done full-time college work knows how busy such work can make you. On my welcome breaks from school, I’ve thought about starting to blog again, but I’ve never put serious effort into the undertaking until now. I still have a year of school left to go (and after that, Lord willing, an entry into the even busier workforce), so more busy times await me. However, the difference now is, that I shall attempt to blog when I can in between the homework and lectures.
But there is more to it than being busy. I have found that it is a fact that business school can sap your creativity if you’re not careful. You see, business school (to say nothing of accounting training) offers the student little in the way of creative or artistic studies. There is much, however, in the way of numbers, figures, ratios, percentages, mathematical problems, a little algebra here and there (but thankfully no calculus), Excel spreadsheets, and financial statements. In the business world, we use all of these things to figure out what the statistical, financial, and business reality of the world really is, and to determine, based on that, the most profitable way forward. There’s no poetry, no prose, no daydreaming, and no flights of fancy. Even the “out-of-the-box” thinking that is often encouraged in business continues to be strictly in a business sense, in the final analysis. All this to say, that if you were given to creative endeavors now and then (as I was) upon entering business school, then an extended stay in that black-and-white world of facts and figures can squeeze your creative juices dry if you let it.
Then there’s the little problem that, of all the characters that people the business world, accountants are probably the least literary.** I personally do not have this problem, since I have long nurtured a love for reading and writing. But this trait seems to be rare among accountants, who breathe daily the dusty atmosphere of numbers. Even the writing that we are called upon to do is often already written for us, as in the case of most audit opinions, which are extremely formulaic (with only a slight change here and there, if needed, to a set template). The footnotes of financial statements should force accountants to call upon whatever literary prowess the do possess, since it is there that the inner workings behind the numbers of a particular set of financial statements are explained so that the reader may understand. I say “should”, because a cursory reading of the average set of financial statements proves that this purpose has usually not been well-served except with regard to the most business-savvy among us.
If that were not proof enough of the literary weakness found in the accounting world, I once saw a flyer handed out by my university’s Accounting Association (which I would have expected to know better); on its title page, the word “Accounting” was spelled “Accaounting”.
But I assume you didn’t come here to read about the accounting world and all of its consolidations, methods, rules, and regulations, though I may have something to say about these mostly boring subjects in later entries. What did you, and (hopefully) what will you come here to read from time to time? I hope to provide anew some of the things I used to provide in this space – some humor, some serious and thought-provoking subjects, a few aimless ramblings interspersed among the other more coherent offerings. But I want to strive for a lot more. I want this blog to be a lively discussion (which, hopefully, with your input, does not have to be one-sided) about all the countless things that make up our world and define what it means to be alive and human. It may take different forms – non-fiction most of the time, but perhaps also fiction or even poetry.
I hope that time and business school have not dented in any way my ability or desire to write. I doubt that they have, and I am sure that with a little practice and creative thought I will regain my equilibrium. The bottom line is, there is only one way to find out, and that is to get writing again. I trust it will be a fun and productive journey. Won’t you join me?
*Author’s Note: Such people came under the heading “Last of a Dying Breed” back when I was actively blogging. Since then, I am sure they have gone the way of the Dodo Bird.
**Author’s Note: I was about to say that the accountants were the least creative. But have you seen a Goldman Sachs income statement lately?
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