Welcome to my blog “An Eclectic Life”.  I spent a lot of time trying to come up with this blog title. I wanted a title that was reflective of what I wanted to blog about, reflective of me, my interests, my work, and, of course, one that hadn’t already been taken. Surprisingly to me, it was this last part that was the most time consuming.

The concept of an “eclectic” life originated in my 20’s.  Remember when the big question was “what type of music do you like?” Well, my answer was always “I have an eclectic taste in music”.  It was easier for me to list what I didn’t like (really heavy metal and early gangsta rap) than it was explain that I liked pretty much any other type of music out there.  This never changed for me. Rather eclecticism has sprawled slowly into almost every facet of my life. Today, if I have to list the things that interest me, the list is kind of extensive and maybe also a bit odd.  It includes, in no particular order, politics, the environment, business, women’s issues, great thinkers, great leaders, new ideas, new technology, fair trade, social justice, great food, golf, the Muppets, and learning Chinese (it is a truly fascinating and difficult language to learn). So given this is a partial list and the fact that Heike’s Blog and several other possible titles were taken, what other than “an eclectic life” could I call it?

As I embark on blogging on various subjects that interest me I’m hoping metatags will help keep this virtual space somewhat organized. We’ll see.

One last point of housekeeping for those who may be interested I don’t intend to blog everyday. It is not my goal to be a professional blogger.  I look at this as a creative space to share ideas, questions, interesting things I discover and hopefully also a bit of humour. Dialogue is good too. I’ve read many blogs over the years, only subscribe to a few and have unsubscribed from several.  I hope to write things worth reading, but don’t want to be a constant force in anyone’s inbox or become that one more thing you need to get to.   Like you, I really do need to spend most of my time working and living, not blogging.  Having said this, I think it will be fun to write on-line about some of the fascinating things I encounter and think about in this eclectic life of mine.

Here’s to eclectic living!

Heike Mertins