Today my favorite corner of the internet rides off into the sunset and I’m finding I have nowhere to grieve. Mournful text messages have gone unanswered, attempts at conversation draw blank stares and I’m passing the afternoon at my desk somewhere between a brooding solitude and actively trying not to cry. After years of drawing an oddly and deeply personal sense of community from a blog that structurally prevents direct reader-to-reader dialogue (via, say, a comments section), it is somewhat fitting that I have nowhere to commiserate its end but within my own mind.
And so I turn to the blog I’ve neglected to eulogize the blog I’ve read almost every day since graduating from college in 2007. In fact I can say, without hyperbole, that Andrew Sullivan’s The Dish has been one of the most influential forces shaping how I've come to understand myself and the world around me in the time since. It has, over the years, among many other things:
Above all else, the Dish has grown into a trusted touch-point for me - a place I come to get smart, thoughtful perspective on all sorts of things going on in the world, to gain a sense of communal reaction to current events, to explore new ideas and new inspirations, or just to pass some down time at work. Though I understand and support Andrew’s decision to hang it up, I'd be lying if I said the thought of losing all of this didn't make me feel empty inside.
And so I turn to the blog I’ve neglected to eulogize the blog I’ve read almost every day since graduating from college in 2007. In fact I can say, without hyperbole, that Andrew Sullivan’s The Dish has been one of the most influential forces shaping how I've come to understand myself and the world around me in the time since. It has, over the years, among many other things:
- Taught me (and constantly reinforced) the value of reasonable discourse in place of knee-jerk, inflexible doctrine
- Been a much-needed, dependable source of support and inspiration as I gradually grew to understand and take better care of myself
- Introduced me to The Atlantic - I am still a subscriber, though am perpetually a few months behind on my reading
- Provided me with innumerable tidbits that made me smile (especially videos like Carl Sagan reading from Pale Blue Dot, the Star Wars AT-AT as a dog, and various montages of travel images and slice of life over time collections)
- Forced me to pay attention to stories I otherwise would have ignored
- Framed the internal debate I was having with myself over spirituality in a meaningful way
Above all else, the Dish has grown into a trusted touch-point for me - a place I come to get smart, thoughtful perspective on all sorts of things going on in the world, to gain a sense of communal reaction to current events, to explore new ideas and new inspirations, or just to pass some down time at work. Though I understand and support Andrew’s decision to hang it up, I'd be lying if I said the thought of losing all of this didn't make me feel empty inside.
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