Shall one keep this thought, of decorum, in mind when presenting oneself online? Some say yes. Some say no. I am at a crossroads of throwing off my mantle of “safe” and really leaning in to my creative side with this site.

This site holds most of my endeavors from the start of my adult life in college through the present. It still works like a blog, so check out the categories and tags on the side as well as the links tab at the top.

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It seems l have not touched this site in a year. What has been happening? And, before that, why do I never reach out and create anymore? Isn’t it time? If not, when is it time?

Too many questions.

Within the last two and 1/2 years, I have been working as an assistant in research at a university in town. I use all my creative thinking to solve problems, devise solutions, communicate and build connections throughout the world through the work. I was also hired to help build an annual research showcase event AND be the staff editor (as opposed to the faculty editor) of the annual newsmagazine. I cannot post the actual images what I helped create (the links are on the Links Tab above) due to copyrights and agreements with said university.

One thing I can “tout”: I took the cover photo of the annual newsmagazine this year. That is a first! I am pretty proud of that.

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Now, back to “decorum”. AI is all the rage here in 2025. I have learned how to navigate the use of generative AI in my work life. Can AI have decorum? I suppose you can give it parameters when prompting. And, I suppose it can build itself around these parameters if you include them every time you write a prompt. It may also ask about them eventually if you forget to add them one time. I suppose I have trained my AI to have some when I speak to it with formality and type “please” and “thank you” while interacting with it. I may be too formal for this day an age! Though, I have my reasons to include these words.

The humans of Western Culture of 2025 seem to have relaxed the formality of everything: the written word, the clothes worn on the body, the lines between private and public, the lines between the creative and the profane. I feel I move with “the times” though I suppose my tendency for decorum, in a professional setting especially, could be thought to be out of touch. I would counter with “not necessarily”. Wouldn’t someone rather have a respectful discourse over email than one that may be filled with casual wording and closeness that isn’t warranted? Warmth, certainly! As in when speaking to someone new, the casualness takes time to build- if it ever does!

Writing with warmth, inclusiveness, intelligence, and interest is a skill that is learned. And it is not easy.

Does this blog, this web site, “speak” to those people I have a professional relationship with? Rarely, though many have seen bits and pieces of what it holds. If these people were to read it, I would hope that it would show heart, depth, humor, and decorum.

I will continue to hold this site as a repository of my public work. If I get a wild hair, I may keep it private for now.