Once More From the Top

It has been a long time since I posted here at BarkingShaman and a great deal has happened. For instance, while I rarely bark anymore, I now have a strong British accent which, like the barking is actually a manifestation of my Tourette Syndrome. Apparently it is realistic enough that native Brits have been surprised to learn that I’ve never been to their country. I’ll be writing more on that soon.

For now let’s talk a bit about the past, and a bit about the future.

First, the future: The next few weeks will see BarkingShaman essays talk about things that have happened while I was not posting, like the appearance of my accent. After that, I’ll be regularly posting essays about the usual BarkingShaman topics, life as a poly/pagan/spirit worker/business owner/who barks like a dog and talks like a Brit. Additionally, the Articles of Interest tab will be removed, and instead I’ll be directly posting links to articles on the web that I think are relevant to the theme of this blog.

And now the past: If I had it my way I’d be closing BarkingShaman not resuming writing. While my previous absences were generally caused by health problems, this long gap was not. Around the time of my last post, I had a first person run-in with how toxic this livejournal/blog/myspace thing can be. It didn’t involve BarkingShaman but rather something that happened in the real world, found its way onto the internet, and then back into the real world. The consequences were deeply hurtful and soured me towards this mode of communication in a bad way. With few exceptions, I stopped reading all blogs save professional political ones. And I decided that I did not want to participate in this mode of communication anymore.

And yes, I know that was childish. It wasn’t fun anymore so I didn’t want to play. But hell, with everything on my plate personally and professionally (both professions) I thought I had the right to be a bit childish about something. Turns out I was wrong.

The Boss Lady encouraged me (in a “Do this now” sort of way) to start Notes From a Barking Shaman in the first place, and now She says it’s time to get back to work. In this, as in all things, I do what She says. And in fairness, I enjoyed writing BarkingShaman the first time around and I know I can this time too.

I ask you to be patient with me as I get back into harness so-to-speak. Strange as it sounds, it takes practice to do this well (especially the writing quality), but as of today Notes From a Barking Shaman is back.

Stick around; I’ll be here.

-Wintersong Tashlin