IN THE INTEREST OF full disclosure, I sometimes rush into projects pregnant with desire and intention only to hit wall after wall. Many people have said I mean well, but that sounds like a consolation prize, right? In fact, it resembles a kind excuse. Well, at least his heart was in the right place. But “enthusiasm” does not equal action and procrastination tends to douse the fire.
I began this blog in December 2014, the same December in which I lost my father. At the time, it was called theaccientalpoet.net. “.com” was already taken several times over. I chose the name because I was, indeed, an accidental poet. Writing poetry, composing flash fiction, strumming my guitar, listening to endless hours of music—these things literally saved my life. They helped me express, share, ruminate, decipher, consider, and put my troubles “on the docket.” Regardless of whether I receive feedback, I still find the writing process to be quite cathartic. It allows me to drain the swamp of my life and expose the rudimentary issues.
The initial tagline for this blog was “ruminations on recovery, spirituality, and creativity.” Categories suggested themselves, and included ADDICTION, THEOLOGY, POETRY, RECOVERY, and PSYCHOLOGY. These were set as “hot buttons” for posts in each category. The site “morphed” a bit several times, to now include topics like APOLOGETICS, CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE, ESCHATOLOGY, INTEGRATION. But things started to get out of hand. Readership was nothing close to stellar, and I could not seem to spark feedback or further discussion. I changed the “theme” several times. Some layouts looked pretty good, others looked vast with too much “white space.” I feel comfortable with the present format—it looks organized and easy to navigate. The list of topics has been reigned in, and I changed the name to https://theaccidentalapologist.com. Readers can still use https://theaccidentalpoet.net. Topics regarding these categories came easily. At this point, I own both domain names, but I still wonder if the name “accidental apologist” is broad enough to entice participation.
What seems to be about a million years ago I promised the premier of a podcast. This was one of my typical cart-before-the-horse ideas. Technical and equipment issues and understanding proper procedure has caused several delays regarding the podcast. I now have the proper hardware and software to proceed with a podcast, but I want to have at least 5 to 7 episodes written and recorded in advance before launch. As of today, I have a whopping one episode. When the podcast begins, I will promote the links as posts on this blog. Also, I expect to provide access to the blog through one or two popular podcast listings.
Going forward, I expect to post blog articles on this site at least once every seven days, but ideally would rather post twice a week. Not every post will be complex or comprehensive in nature, nor will they necessarily be from the same category. I hope you will subscribe to this blog and set a notification to your email inbox for new posts. Kindly share the posts and recommend the blog to others. Consider providing written feedback in addition to LIKES. Help me write and produce these posts based on where you stand in the topics discussed. Challenge what you read and ask questions. In this way, we will be able to participate in the sharing of Christ in today’s Post-Christian, Post-Truth culture.
Steven Barto, B.S. Psy., M.A. Theology.
The Accidental Apologist 