"Don't Let It Go"

"It is a sin to write this."

"Sin" literally translates as "separation," and I am separating myself from this blog, indefinitely, to work on other projects I have going on.

It was the winter of '96 when I first discovered Ayn Rand, starting with Anthem (which is still my favorite of all her works.) I found her ideas so powerful that I spent the next 15 years reading, wrestling with, and discussing them. In that time, I've had much to hear, and much to say, though the ideas are certainly not exhausted. (Hopefully, I've contributed in a positive way, particularly in the discussion of the Objectivist theory of my primary passion, which is music.)

And since that winter of '96, a sea change has occurred in the world; where previously the conversation often seemed one-sided, Rand and Objectivism have now taken on a whole new life in the public consciousness (I wish it were for better reasons, as Objectivism is so much larger than politics...oh well, "who is John Galt?"). Anyway, with all the renewed interest, there will be plenty of discussions elsewhere. So, I'm going to step away for a bit, though I may pop in-and-out, here and there, as the mood (or current events) strike. And I'll certainly keep the spirit close by:

“In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours.”

Don't let it go.