Authentic Anger

I was impressed today by the courage of a new blogger friend who started a post with "I'm posting while angry, and I'm not sure it's a good idea."

Kudos for acknowledging the risks, and also for proceeding when your gut told you it was important.

I think a lot about how often we are encouraged to calm down and think before we take action; and I must say, in general, that approach has served me better over the years than firing from the hip. But what if you think about it, try to "calm down," and you just can't get there? This can be an important voice, telling you to use what you feel to express yourself.

Knowing that someone is upset about something can be important information. And even more so, knowing that the passage of time is not diluting their feelings is a litmus test for me on the authenticity of their issue. The trick is not developing a character that is dismissed as reactionary. Well-placed and judicious anger can be a powerful tool for good.

(If you'd like to see the post that caught my attention, see Humor - When Is It Too Far? at http://hillbillyhomo.blogspot.com/)