WHAT THE BLOG DO WE KNOW?

Why do you blog? Why? When you have so many other things to do and your blogging"buddies" are people you have never met? People who do not steer the events of your day to day life except in comments that (in my case, usually) don't come until long after you have posted?

BECAUSE YOU MUST!

I have been hearing (and reading) from so many people that there is general level of disatisfaction in day to day life. Usually it's "the usual": jobs, love, traffic, the grind, not doing what one is "supposed" to be doing. And for bloggers it seems all of us have been dropping off, or restricting the amount of time we spend on it, or simply questioning the whys and hows and whens of why and how and when we blog.

We are living in a time of transformation that is so great it can only be compared to several other times in history: the Hundred Years War through to the Protestant Reformation, the fall of the Roman Empire, the invention of fire and the wheel.

Seriously.

Our world is exponentially different than that of 1906. We have so many new technologies that new relationships and ways of being our being created so fast that we haven't even had time to adjust. We move fast, eat fast, learn fast, hear news fast, get entertained fast, talk fast, think fast.

Do you think that if any adult person (say over 25 years of age) that died before 1935 time travelled to the present they would be able to adapt and survive? I don't.

And there is no hiding and no privacy. With a little footwork and a hundred dollars we can find out almost everything about nearly anybody...

Except what is in their heart and in their mind.

While on the one hand their are numerous examples of the internet helping criminals and predators, there are many ways in which the internet is making the world a better, safer, more tolerant and open place. Blogging and bloggers are a HUGE part of that positive transformation.

We are fostering a global dialogue. We are exposing the bones of our lives and the life-blood of our hearts. It does not matter if you are (see if you can "name the blog or blogger")a soldier in Iraq, a SAHM, a "crazy cat lady", insane Okie, gay daddy, stoner Aussie, student/photographer/political ranter/surrealist, aspiring writer (no, not me, the one England), redneck grandmother, new mom/crazy chick (hehe, sorry Turtle), record collector and archivist, artist, yogi/prison nurse, newlywed comedic writer/bassett hound owner, new business owner, Desi Kentucky dental student, etc... (Did I miss anyone?)

It doesn't matter who you are, or how exciting or boring your life is, or how much money you have or don't have, or whether you like your job or hate it, or where you live and if you like it there or hate it there, or if you like Bush (I pity you) or if you think Bush is an idiot (because he is), or ANYTHING!

All that matters is that you are taking part in the collective conversation. You are examining yourself and your world. That is all that is important. I have to remind myself (ALOT) that a writer (or artist of any kind) is only responsible for making their work available. (Blogging, thankfully, does not require alot of money spent in postage and copying!) We are not responsible for how many people read it or how many people that read it like it. Only for making our work available.

And their are as many blogs as their are people. While I think blogs about celebrities are boring, there are alot of them. There are alot of right wing political blogs. I don't normally read those either. But I am glad they are out there.

In the blogosphere we really show what we want to show. While there is certainly dishonesty (especially in the downside--the Internet as used by predators)I think that startling honesty is more the norm. Most of us want to be known and we want to connect. Whether through humour or what we like and dislike, or through deeper discussions of "taboo" subjects like politics and religion, we want to expose ourselves.

And, ironically, I think this is the antidote to our loss of privacy and insulation from the other 599,999,999 people on the planet.

Greater self-awareness.

Take part in collective dialogue. Let your views be made available. We are bombarded all day long by what other people think: the news, the radio dj's, co-workers, advertisements, family members. Take a minute whenever you can and record a few of your thoughts. Record the ones you most want to give. Share what you most want to share.

Take a moment to give shape to the world.

TOODLE ON!!!