Friday, February 1, 2013

The Real Essay

 Today I was assigned by my mother (of course...I am homeschooled...) to write a "meditative essay". And to all you nerds like me out there, here is something you might like to know: the essay (which literally means "to try") was invented by Michel de Montaigne who said that, in essence, his essays were about himself. "So, reader, I am myself the substance of my book, and there is no reason why you should waste your leisure on so frivolous and unrewarding a subject."
This form of writing was self-revelation, not encumbered by all the rules you and I are familiar with (the essay has, seemingly, morphed a bit). Montaigne had created something revolutionary. His aim was "to spy on himself from close up. This is not my teaching, this is my study; and it is not a lesson for others, it is for me." He says that "These are my humors and opinions; I offer them as what I believe, not what is to be believed." 
 
 And I could say that this is the aim of my blog: to muse on life, God, and random things; while you, the reader, may know that these are merely "my humors and opinions; I offer them as what I believe, not what is to be believed."