I am not sure this is very wise – putting it all out there in a blog. I think that Blogging is somewhat pretentious, the assumption that you have something useful to say to the whole wide world that anybody would be interested in reading. It reminds me of a radio talk show I listened to in South Africa some years ago – a listener had phoned in and explained in intimate detail her gynecological condition. When asked by the talk-show host if she had spoken to her doctor she said that she was too embarrassed. . . ! There is a point at which mass anonymity is easier to cope with than one-on-one intimacy. In a series of articles I will be writing about the experiences of the long-term development worker and depression. Dealing with demons. Each article will be a work in progress – I will probably go back to each multiple times and edit them substantially over time.
I have decided to do this in the hopes that the exercise may be of help to others if this is not too vain or presumptuous. It may also be cathartic for me, if this is not too indulgent – boy do we have hangups sufficient to stop anyone from writing anything!
The initial set of topics will be as follows:-
1. Development work – the realities of the long haul.
2. The dark hole – dealing with the demons of depression
3. The myth of “Making a difference”
4. Footprints – the impacts of development
5. Large or small – the dilemma of scale in development
6. Travel – the Temptress and the Slave Driver
