”The problem with quotes from the internet is that you can never quite be sure they are genuine'”
– Abraham Lincoln”
Once upon a time, people believed anything they were told.
Oh wait! They still do!
After all everyone knows that if it is online it must be true! Especially if thousands of other folk read it and believe it. No way the information could be false if “everyone” has seen it! And the more outrageous; the more unusual it may be, the more believable, because hey the mundane and everyday is too boring to even care about. We would much rather believe in the wild and crazy. Gives us hope of better things maybe!
What is he blithering on about today?
Several in the community of bloggers I have been privileged enough to have been accepted into seem to be wrestling with some related thoughts. Seems to happen quite often. I am not sure if we found each other because we think alike, or we think alike because we found each other. So today I feel the need for some gratuitous promotion of others as well as again delving into THE POWER OF THE BLOG!
First shout out goes to my sister Lisa. Nepotism rules! She recently delved into the power of simplicity. As humanity “progresses”, we seem to embrace the complicated. Somehow we got it into our heads that more complicated is “better”. And as a result we thrive on the extremely busy; on the supposedly “news worthy”; on the conspiracies, the wild tales. In the process we seem to forget the power of the simple things around us. The unthinking masses seem to prefer complicated. The smaller group of actually thinking humans manage to find find pleasure in the simple. Hmmmmm.
Lisa is the one who actually pointed me to the various blogs I follow. The number is not huge. If I religiously followed every blog that had a writer who speaks to my soul, then I would never leave my rather uncomfortable desk chair. So I have my select few that I think are amazing (the ones on my sidebar →), with the occasional visit to other sites as interest or circumstances find me there. The funny thing is I tend to shy away from the ones with huge followings. Frequently I find that what they say is trivial or not well written, despite their apparent popularity.
The Ramblings is one of my favorite spots for a pick me up. Tori’s recent post there touched upon this popularity issue as well as the “mundane” vs “exciting” thang. I too often wrestle with the idea that no one really reads my blogs (kind of making my current gratuitous promotion rather pointless – especially since Tori has way more of a cult following than me). Until it dawned on me that I would rather have one thinking person who will actually take what I have to say and use it, then a whole slew of mindless drones who don’t really have a clue what I am actually saying. Of course having a whole slew of thinking people who actually take what I say and use it would be the ideal!
My final shout out for today (before I get too long and even lose the attention of the devoted five) is to say hello to Kathy of reinventing the event horizon. She recently questioned her own ability to express what she truly wishes to share with the world. Seems to me a fear common to anyone who shares their creations with others. By expressing such fears, others can realize that they are not so different after all. That in itself is an amazing thing!
Blogging has power. It has the power to shape lives. It has the power to make people think. Sometimes the simplest of ideas create the most powerful thoughts. And even if thousands do not read a blog, that does not mean it will not have an effect. One enlightened and thinking soul can influence much more of the world then a thousand blind sheep. All you need is that one reader to make a mark. But beyond that, blogging also has the power to draw the like minded together. We find support and healing even in our moments of distress.
Apparently I finally arrived where I was going. I am not sure this is what I was actually aiming for when I started but oh well.
BLOG POWER!
