Still Alive and Kicking...
It's been quite some time since I have posted an update here. Lately, I've been on an emotional roller-coaster of sorts, navigating through grief and anger as well as the process of rethinking some of my theological beliefs and worldview.
No, I'm not having a midlife crisis or deconstructing my faith. I'm just finding that in this season of life, I need to reevaluate and discard some long-held “cultural” beliefs—all the stuff that has nothing to do with Jesus or the Gospel, and frankly, I don't want to burden myself or my family with any longer.
“Cough cough... political conservatism disguised as biblical faithfulness.”
“Cough cough... cruelty and hate dressed up as defending the faith.”
Unfortunately, that is the state of the hyper-politicized church (and society) in North America today.
But that dumpster fire needs to be addressed another day...
Before all of this family tragedy and turmoil, I had set out to revamp and refocus my blog and social media. It definitely took longer than expected, but now that it is finished, I'm pretty happy with it.
It's a place where I feel I can process and write regularly again—a much-needed therapeutic outlet.
As you can see, the blog has a new look and a new web address at https://davewinter.blog
It has a revamped About page with updated biographical information and writing topics. And if that isn't enough information for you all, I have added a Now page, which basically answers the question, “So Dave, what have you been up to lately?” I plan to update this page with new details every couple of months.
I have also made this blog easy to follow. You can do this via the above web address, the RSS feed, its Fediverse address, or by subscribing to the email digest below:
Regarding social media, I have left Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for good. The fact that these corporations are happy to readily disseminate conspiracy theories, dis/misinformation, and hate on their platforms meant there was little value left in them for me. And let's not forget all the advertising and selling of your information to third parties like A.I. companies, etc.
My primary social media is GotoSocial, part of the Fediverse (along with Mastodon and others). I run my own server, follow who I want, and don't have to worry about the algorithms pushing crappy political ideologies, nimrods, Tesla fanboys or advertising.
I have found many kind, intelligent, quality people to follow in the Fediverse, which wasn't previously possible due to the algorithms on the main social media platforms.
On GotoSocial, I mainly share about Football (soccer), pop culture, the long burning tire fire that is Canadian politics, mental health and some of my favourite editorial cartoons. These are public posts and can be viewed at https://davewinter.social
I do occasionally post personal news or photos on this platform. However, those posts are private and only visible to those who follow me from the Fediverse via @dw@davewinter.social
I also mirror the public posts from this account to my account on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/bsky.davewinter.social
Finally, my messaging app of choice is the encrypted messaging app Signal. If you have it, you can add me via my username x0darkpadr3.01 or this link.
I look forward to reconnecting with you all!
Dave Lent 2024
Feel free to Discuss... or connect with me @dw@davewinter.social