The Good, The Bad and The Unseen
Well, it is certainly no secret that I am the new kid on the blog.
It's somewhat similar to the first day on the job when you don't know anything...don't know where the copier paper is...don't know the code to get back into the door after going to the bathroom down the hall...don't know how to access voicemail. It's that creepy feeling that somehow you have forgotten everything that may have even remotely made you qualified for this job.
Perhaps this is the blog dedicated to the observation of the blog.
The Good -- Blogging ties together 21st century technology with our age-old desire to be connected.I've already made a friend in the blog-o-sphere. You'll note that she's the only one who has posted on here. (I don't count the James Bond quotes as real posts. Sorry 007.) But the point is, that even on the internet...when we are as arm's length as one can be from one another, that we still value the need to connect with someone else. My thoughts haven't changed from when I put them down on paper, but they are somehow validated because someone looked at them. I wouldn't know this woman if I saw her on the street, but I already feel a kinship with her because of her kind words toward me and because I have taken the time to look at her blog and connect with her. I don't think it's an extreme leap to say that most people who blog have some desire at some level to connect with others. Otherwise, there wouldn't be the opportunity to interact and to have discourse...nor would it be encouraged through posting and feedback. In the final analysis, connecting with the reader is what makes one blog more prominent than another.
The Bad -- There is no stop gap for bloggers who would use the power and responsibility of their platform to incite fear or hatred or to trash and flame other people.What some see as the beauty of the blog to get the truth out in the open can conversely be its biggest downfall in that there are those who would willfully and maliciously use the access of the internet to throw around accusations and insinuations that hurt others and destroy lives and causes. Lively discourse and debate are good and healthy. Blaming and deceipt and manipulation...not good and certainly not healthy. So, in sorting through the blogs, it is important to be educated yourself...to track down and separate out fact and fiction. And to also be very conscious of your own power either as a blogger or a post-er to be fair and to be accurate.
The Unseen -- With almost 9 millions blogs out there, surely there are some that will never gather an audience even though they may be better written and more beautifully done than some of the most frequented.Think of the amazingly beautiful flower that grows in the wild that will never be seen by a human. It is no less lovely because one person didn't deem it so. (I know, I know -- the age old question about if a tree falls in the woods with no one to hear it, then does it make a sound?) I guess the point of the "Unseen" is that we always need to be aware that we do not fully know what all is 'out there' -- talents, gifts, beauty, opportunities, consequences, you name it -- we can't entirely know all that abounds around us. It's a simple reminder to keep us humble and to keep us looking and learning and guessing and curious. When we think we know it all, we just know all we'll ever know.
So, those are my thoughts and observations on blogging for today. Perhaps there will be more later...but alas, I'm having writer's blog.
A+B=C ... or ... C=A+B
Interesting evening and morning. And with trepidation, I shall enter my second post.
I thought about this site for the better part of the evening last night. My husband and I had a discussion about what the "purpose" of a blog is. Why would anyone want to have one? I explained that I had only really
looked at blogs -- looking at them for what they are -- yesterday. Oh, I had tapped into them to get info or to track certain things, but had not looked at them for what they are...for the genre that they are. As we talked in our truncated sentences (those of you with children understand that dialect), I managed to say that some are diaries...some are true news outlets...many are gossipy or rants...while others are just plain bizarre. And so he asked again what the purpose of my blog is. And my answer remained "I don't know."
It just hit me that this is a manifestation of my personality that can be described as C=A+B. You see, my husband is an A+B=C person. Totally confused? Let me see if I can do the description justice.
Kon (dear husband) is an organized, methodical person. He knows that if you have "A" and then do "B" that it will result in "C." He has to have a plan and the components in place before he will work toward a goal. I, on the other hand, come up with a great idea -- aka "C" -- and then scrap around and utilize "B" and "A" to achieve "C."
Now, in the context of a blog it's quite simple how those personalities manifest themselves. While I think "Wow! A blog! What a great idea. Why don't I set one up and go for it?" Only after I've done all that do I sit down and figure out what to populate it with. It will evolve, and its purpose, meaning and virture (if, in fact, there even are any) may only be discovered much later on. However, Kon's approach would be something like this: "I love scale models. I would like to post my thoughts about scale models and set up a site where I can capture my observations and experiences looking at World War II history and artifacts. I will therefore set up a blog that allows me to do that and to welcome others who may have similar input."
Big difference, huh! Of course, we both wind up with a blogspot...and to the outside world, they would appear virtually the same with regard to the mechanics of it all. But isn't that an amazingly stark contrast in how that blogspot came to be?
Now apply that to the almost 9 million bloggers online and imagine the different motivations and personality formulas that drove them to create their spot. It's mind boggling, I tell you.
Well hells bells...we're here at the end of another entry, and I really haven't gotten much further than the edge of my amateur brain. Why do I feel like this journey into blogging is like the morning of a much anticipated trip, and in trying to get out of the driveway, the process is continuously interrupted with a forgotten camera, a last minute trip to the bathroom, and one last check through the house to turn off lights. We'll get going, I promise. But I must warn you...I only know where we're going (C)...I have no idea how we'll get there (A+B).
Opening Day
Who would have thunk it? I have never paid too much attention to blogging...don't know that I could explain it in a succinct sentence (or two or three). Was asked to look into it and find out more...then was driven to a link to set one up. Given my love of writing and the sound of my own voice...here I am 5 minutes later with a blog of my very own.
More to come. It just hit me that the thought of having my own platform is overwhelming even for me. I was just hit with the awesome responsibility of the power of the written word and a platform on which to exercise that power. Hmmmm...the template for signing up was so easy...now to consider what the content will be.
**time elapsing...time elapsing...**
I'm back...and since it is the same day, I am opting to edit the original post instead of just adding a new one. I don't know if that is acceptable in the realm of blogging, but I am guessing that since it is my own blog, that I can create my own rules for posting.
No one has seen the original posting as far as I know, so theoretically, I could have just continued on with my rambling without bringing attention to its being done in segments, but that wouldn't be completely honest. And let's face it..should anyone really start to read the thoughts in my head that I am hammering out to paper (okay, not really paper, but you get the point) then I feel like I should be honest and forthcoming from the get-go. Especially since I would appreciate honesty and forthrightness from anyone who chooses to add comments to the site.
So, for anyone who stumbles across this blog...or for those who are directed to it for one reason or another...I don't know that I can tell you what the typical topic or focus will be. If you know me, you would laugh at the thought of trying to pin down where my mind will go at any given moment. Perhaps this will just be the place where we can meet together to air out our thoughts on the times... not necessarily just the day's events, but what they signal for our times.
