Identity Crisis of the Blog

It’s been difficult for me to maintain this blog. I could blame it on having three kids that are 5, 2.5 and 4 months old. I could blame it on my wife, but I wont. She’s too pretty, and I like our comfortable bed. I could blame it on having multiple ministries to attend to. I could blame it on having more work than I can honestly handle right now (although that leads me to feel increasingly guilty in our current economic climate). I could even blame it on twitter and foursquare. But the real truth is my blog and I have an identity crisis on our hands.

I’m passionate about a lot of things. And unfortunately, given my Myers-Briggs type (ENTP / ENFP) that doesn’t play well for my ability to focus and create content. I tend to jump from one thing to the next pretty quick, usually without much regard for the consequences of such lack of focus, and at the expense of whatever had my focus previously. I call it my “ooooh! Something shiny!” complex.

This has required me to put much thought & reflection into a very difficult, complex, and deep question lately to determine what this blog, and the resulting content should be about.

QUESTION: What is Dan W. Boles’ (professional) mission in life?

I don’t have the answer. But I do have some pieces of the puzzle. Like this one phrase that keeps coming to mind, “I’m a beggar for College Students.”

Beyond my family (which I am wildly in love with), I know I have strong passions for several things that are directly related to my calling; collegiate and young adult ministry, spiritual transformation, theological study, missional church, incarnational life, discipleship, leadership development, and helping others find their personal ministry – or to use some older language – Christian Vocation.

In addition, I have a relatively strong background in and gifts for Marketing, Communications, Public Relations (PR), Event Planning, Brand Theory & Philosophy, Technology, Web Development (particularly with WordPress), and Social Media & E-Communications.

I also have a growing fascination with a few other things too. Things like location-based technology and applications (mostly foursquare), traveling, photography, videography, organic food, gardening, fair trade, going green, spending more time with my family, and saving money, among others.

The trick is to somehow figure out which pieces of this puzzle fit together, which don’t belong, and how they all relate to (or don’t relate to) the question above, which will then guide the focus and content of this blog.

What you think of all of this? I’m hoping you can share your feedback, and invite others in your social networks to do the same. Give me your feedback. Within a few weeks, I hope to cull through all the feedback, spend some time in prayer, and hopefully put an end to this identity crisis and drive more focused & consistent content towards this blog.