What the Hell Do You Care? (An Introduction)

So here I am. Why on earth would you give a damn?

Don't ask me. I haven't the faintest idea. Like many of you, I was lured over here by innumerable friends and colleagues and fellow anarchists into the great social experiment that is the steemit community. Ok, that's actually bullshit. I was pushed and prodded and pressured and here I am. So what now? Introductions, it would appear. Because I loathe writing about myself, and because I do not know what you want to know, I'm just going to sort of spill my stream of consciousness here on the floor, let it splash on the walls, and-as is my tendency-generally make a mess. Stand back a bit if you don't want to get wet.

I might be unique, but that might just be an unintentional attribute bestowed by what, lacking lustre, has surrounded me. I might be entirely ordinary. It's not really up to me, is it? I'm a woman, though I tend to think of myself more as a girl. I mean, beside the fact that I still shop for pants in the junior's section, surely I'm not mature and experienced and self-assured enough to call myself "woman", am I? It feels intimidating, and maybe even a little fraudulent. Even though I'm 37 years old, most of the time I feel fresh out of high school. Now, mind you, I don't care enough about the proper trendy terms for expressing my sexgenderousness to others to even know what they are, so for those of you who rely on this information and consider it essential: you're shit out of luck here. All I know is I was born with a hoo-ha, and I like my hoo-ha. I use the bathrooms with a skirt on them; I birthed three children; I date (and apparently marry and divorce) men. You'll just have to live with it.

From this point on (if you've made it this far, that is), you may find me puzzling. Perhaps a little confusing. Maybe even offensive. But I promise you this: I make perfect sense. Well, to me at least. I'm a highly logical person, so it's kind of a given that I have to make sense. But whether you grasp it or not is what you're interested in, isn't it? If you have an open mind, you should do just fine.

I am...
Here.
Apprehensive.
Excited.
Always a little guarded.
A paradox (wait for it).
A mother.
An anarchist.
A follower of Christ (GASP!).
In some ways, shockingly naive and inexperienced.
In some ways, uncommonly wise.
Loathe to self-promote (which is why I hate this entire exercise).
A peculiar mix of optimist, pessimist, hopeless romantic, cynic, and realist.
Snarky, sweet, brutal, compassionate, empathetic, and honest.

I love people. I really do. Sometimes I can't stand them, but I genuinely love everyone. Not just everyone I meet, mind you. I love people I don't know. I love people that do great things. I love people that never seem to get noticed. I love people that make bad choices. I even love bad people. I hold human life as sacrosanct. Every life is priceless. So I mourn every loss of it. And I rage against its taking. And for those who do the taking, I hope and strive not for the taking of theirs but for an end to it and change. But those are hopes and aims, they are not practicalities and necessary choices and just outcomes and interactions. So I also have guns.

I have guns, I grow food, I haven't been caught up on laundry in more than 5 years. I'm known for analogies, frank destruction of objections to logic, unfailing support of the Oxford Comma, telling it like it is (especially when everyone is thinking it but nobody wants to say it), and throwing away dirty dishes. There is no more powerful a sound in all the universe than the laughter of my children, and when in doubt just assume I'd rather be singing. I'm eclectic, that much is certain.

I started out as a conservative by upbringing, and attended private Christian schools all throughout my compulsory (primary and secondary) education. My path to anarchism began one Sunday morning at church with something that was said by my pastor, who sounds more like a surfer than a clergyman (it's Florida, what do you expect?). Don't worry, I'll tell that story one day soon. But obviously, I'm not your average "Christian"... Indeed, I spend more time lambasting modern Christianity than I do agreeing with it. So I ask that you simply accept me for who I am, ask questions if you're unsure, and give me the chance to show you. If you project your biases or preconceived notions onto me, I guarantee I will disappoint you.

So here I am, fellow steemers. I'm glad I can finally say that now (and get these monkeys off my back). I look forward to a long and stimulating relationship with you all. I'm eager to explore and express ideas with you, to challenge one another as we forge this path together.

You can follow me here, as well as on Facebook and Google+.
https://www.facebook.com/jess.bbg
https://www.facebook.com/JessicaSmithVoluntaryist/
https://plus.google.com/+JessicaSmithV