An introduction is in order

Greetings and good day. Anything that appears in this space, at the beginning, will likely be quite rough; please bear with me as I learn to blog. Let’s begin with the purpose: Sharpening my wordsmith skills via deliberate practice. I’m Shaun Rose, 27 years young, and infinitely curious about communication and connection. I very much enjoy alliteration and various other literary techniques; although, I am an historian-in-training [currently in senior year of bachelor’s degree at Augusta University]. I view writing as a medium to express stories. Writing also helps us learn what we think about things. Stories are very captivating to our psychology as humans. Thus, becoming the best story-teller I can be is a deep intention as I pursue a high level of total-craft mastery [which, I’ll touch on at a later time]. Further, to connect these concepts, is an idea I’ve come across recently known as history communication. History communication is just what it sounds like: communicating history, to a wider public audience (not JUST within academia). Here is a visual:

I think it is very important to be able to bridge the gap between academic, or University, history and the larger population of folks who would not typically experience the skillful and distinguished research work that we do. Case in point: often, the response I get from people who find out I’m in school for history is to ask if I plan to teach history. Ironically enough, I possess only the most abstract interest in teaching history [E.g. through a form of public historical scholarship and presentation]. Perhaps this tendency is because I feel the classroom — although definitely useful and necessary — can be a constraint. I’m very interested to go outside and explore the natural world and to find a lifestyle/career that allows this sort of freedom [we’ll get into career development, passive income, business, etc. later on]. In a word, I do NOT want to be stuck in a classroom teaching, lol. The idea just doesn’t appeal to me; however, I am VERY grateful for the amazing teachers from whom I’ve learned along the way.

I typically hone in on non-fiction, or real, events. Fiction is certainly intriguing, though, and I hope to pursue creative writing at some point as well to further sharpen my main craft(s) of Historical research, drafting, scholarship, and public speaking. Most of the academic assignments I write require objectivity and a very specific format, which can be a bit constricting. Therefore, I’ve decided to begin a blog to allow my creative juices to flow more freely. Hopefully this thing will attract an audience > one, haha. I’ve journaled a few topics to explore, which will happen in time. However, posts here will likely be sporadic, for now, as I finish out the last few semesters of my bachelor’s degree. Documenting the process toward degree completion may be interesting as will my next pursuit of a graduate degree. Additionally, I fully intend this space as a method to reduce my presence on social media [and thus, steer away from digital sharecropping/exploitation/procrastination], while maintaining a way to share ideas and cool stuff encountered on my conscious journey through the world. Dream / travel journals, worldview vibes, music / art / culture, scholarly theses, etc. may also appear. Stay tuned.

Finally, I’ve accumulated a short-list of inspirations for this particular endeavor (as well as life, generally). These include my girlfriend, mother, brother, and cousin, along with various ‘public’ figures: Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, Steve Pavlina, and Robin Sharma. The list could be increased, but these are a good starting point as far as current influences.