The older I get, the less comfortable I am with putting my true thoughts and feelings about things online, at least in a manner any lengthier or more earnest than a tweet.

I think it’s because if time has taught me one thing, it’s that everything I think and feel will eventually evolve, and sometimes even change completely. There’s no such thing as having a static, comprehensive, fully formed worldview, with exacting ideals and positions on every messy question life has hidden for us. 

I find myself increasingly put off by people who have strong, certain opinions on things. Authority is an illusion most of us try to project, or a hard-won mantle reserved for the rarified few who have actually earned it with patience, time and wisdom. 

But in the endless static of the Internet, everyone is an expert so long as they voice their opinions loud enough to break through the clutter. I spent years doing this (and even worse, in the ultimately pointless realms of celebrity and popular culture), so I understand why it’s appealing. It’s easy to dismiss, to deconstruct, to find the flaws in everything. It’s difficult to empathize, to understand, and to grant even the most obviously troubled among us some small permission to exist. 

I feel gross about always needing to chime in on the frenzied, hyperactive dialogue about what is Good, about who is Bad, about why this Matters when that Doesn’t. Over time, it all ends up sounding so pointless and obvious and stupid.

Anyway, that’s my opinion on opinions. I’m sure I’ll regret this someday, too.