As I See It

I should really begin by telling you that I abhor blogs. Not long ago I had a heated discussion with my husband about how bloggers were not real writers. (Which he promptly brought up to me, when I decided to make this blog. Yeah, it’s great being married to someone who listens to you.) I fought for the voice of all unheard writers trying to legitimately make it in this world. I believed that since anyone can blog, it took away the beauty, the uniqueness, of being chosen to write, to share fact or opinion, creativity or fantasy, with the world.

To blog is not to write, not really, because being a writer is more than just putting words together into sentences. Sure we write for ourselves, if not for ourselves the vast majority of writers would have no audience. However, hardwired into the make-up of almost every writer is the need for validation. That need for someone to read our words and make them mean something by printing them onto paper and distributing them to the world. Isn’t that right?

Well, maybe at one time that was the only way. Now, in a society where most research is done via the Internet rather than a library; most newspapers are lining boxes and wrapping produce rather than sharing Sunday morning breakfast with the family, blogging has somehow become an accepted form of reporting on the world. And, on one hand, I find it tragic. Technological progress has created for us a way of mass-producing opinions. Everyone has one, so everyone gets a voice.

It reminds me of that saying “Everyone is unique”. I like to better say, “Everyone has a unique gift”. I believe we are all gifted in one way or another, but the very nature of being a human, a part of society or culture, is that we are constantly trying to relate, to connect. While we all desperately hope to be different and seen as exceptional, we also desperately try to find common ground with others.

That brings me back to bloggers. Maybe the reason it is so prolific and abundant goes to the heart of our need as humans to connect. We need to know, out there, somewhere, there are others who see life through the same lens. Some bloggers will always just be people who want there voice to be heard where otherwise no one would listen (and maybe I’ll find I actually fall into that category, who knows?), which isn’t so bad as I may have previously thought. But others will inevitably be real writers, with real views or real talents for word-smithing. Those may find that angle hidden in the shadow waiting earnestly to be brought into the light, that one idea that will truly change someone or something. So, hey, blog all you want, and so will I, there’s no harm I suppose in trying.