eBlog by Tore Hoel

From today I will write my personal blog (and may be my workblog) in English. For some time I have waited for the right moment to make the switch. Today I feel I do not have much choice but to stop writing in Norwegian.

For a person who has lived my whole working life by the pen, or rather by a typewriter and numerous generations of computers, it is a strong message to give up the most important tool for reflection, the language, to be able to go on as a reflecting practitioner. Having been a news journalist, an editor of professional journals, an information officer and a reflecting learner I have always written with particular audiences in mind. When I now pick up a tool I do not master and direct the beam of my blog into the empty sky I do not necessarily want a new audience. It’s just that I feel trapped by the audience I have got till now.

You do not need to read this blog. Hopefully, the coming blog posts, written in broken English will be so confusing that nobody will feel offended and have urgent needs to tell me what is appropriate to think and write. This blog is not written for you, but for me. I need to reify my thoughts to learn. And yes, I know learning is a social activity. But you do not need to participate, if you find what I write too controversial or political in a Norwegian context. By writing in English I will drift away from national questions and have no access to a language to express sarcasms. So you can delete your RSS feed now.

In the meantime I’ll will continue to talk to myself. If anyone out there should tune in, fine with me. As long as they do not want to mould me into their picture of what is rightful thinking. So get on with your own life. I have to figure out what to do with mine.