A day late and a dollar short…
I have tried this before, back when blogging was still an infant.
I could have been in on the ground floor of this passing phenomenon. Instead, I find I am somewhere in the middle—and more than likely on the backside of that middle—of a fad.
Questions
What is the fascination with blogs? I have several friends that do it. Is it because of the social networking—another buzzword of the digital generation? Perhaps, it is a personal satisfaction in knowing that strangers, family, and friends alike, are reading your words, interpreting your meanings and identifying with them. Is it a narcissistic need to be recognized? Andy Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame digitized. Therapy? The world is my shrink.
I am asking myself why I am attempting it for the umpteenth time. Why did I not stick to it to begin with? I read blogs that are faithfully maintained daily, if not hourly. A friend told me last night that it is less work to tweak and tinker with the look and feel of a blog than it is to write one. He is correct and of course he blogs.
I read all sorts of blogs and subscribe to one or two. There are journals that record everything from weight-loss to genealogy. Diaries that record some of the most intimate of thoughts and the mundane of daily activity. You have industry specific blogs that tutorialize, review and debate everything from electronics to politics. The information flow is endless.
And that is it in a nutshell—information. We are beings that crave input and output–we thrive on it. Our needs go beyond the simple curiosities of trying to decide if something is edible or mate-able. We need to create, we need to digest the intangible, we need to leave our mark and blogs are just another medium. It allows us a stamp in the present and a place somewhere in the future, no matter how obscure.
I am no different. In a life full of missed opportunities, failures and regrets, I find it hard to focus on achievements. By posting my thoughts in a public forum, I hope to find souls that will empathize with me, discuss things with me, and validate my existence before that existence is no more.