I’m Mike Porter.
And at the risk of making this website “The Mike Show” I figured as I started blogging (because I’m super trendy and jumping on a ten-year-old trend), I should introduce my writing. And I’m not going to lie, I feel a weird amount of pressure to have this be…something. I can hear you wondering already, “What, Mike? What do you want it to be?” Yeah…I don’t know (that’s why I didn’t tell you up above. I wasn’t just trying to build anticipation).
I know I have to write something that you, my lovely friends, will enjoy reading. I have to write something that will be meaningful to you. Something that helps you understand yourself or someone close to you better. I have to write something that will make you want to come back each week to read more. (That’s right. I said “each week.” I’m pretty ambitious.) Plus, I like writing. I’d like to do it more. So, like I said, I’m feeling some pressure.
Here’s the funny thing. You have no expectations of what this blog will be. You’re reading it because you found it on the website. Shoot, for all I know, you may already be bored and have quit. If you haven’t, then let me say kudos on toughing it out this far. Don’t worry, we’re probably almost done.
But I want to get back to expectations. Specifically, how I interact with them. You see, it took me most of my life to realize that I spend a lot of time trying to minimize people’s expectations of me. I usually accomplish this through the use of self-deprecating humor. See, if I can convince you before we interact that I’m a weirdo who is just flying by the seat of his pants (which I am and I do), you won’t expect much from me. Then, when I do something that isn’t weird, but – dare I say? – helpful or meaningful to you, then you’re more easily impressed. But, if you finish reading this and think, “That Mike is a real weirdo.” Well then, I’m no worse off than I was because that is what you were expecting of me.
What’s the danger in this? The danger of my habit is something it also took me a long time to understand. The more I downplayed my abilities, the less people would seek me out for help. Why would they? I’m just a weirdo who flies by the seat of my pants. But this often led me to feeling isolated, or – on occasion – worthless. However, that isn’t the only negative side effect. For my readers, you are no longer looking to find meaning because I assured you there wouldn’t be any. You begin to interact with it differently, which changes what you find in it.
So, what’s the take-away here? Well, I guess it is to establish some expectations. You can expect me to write semi-regularly (I have a goal of once a week). You can expect me to write on topics that I see come up a lot in my work. You can expect me to write about things that are meaningful to me. Finally, you can expect this to get better as it goes. (Remember what I said about flying by the seat of my pants…yeah, that’s kind of how I write.)
Welcome, my friends, to the world of Mike. Hope you enjoy it.
