At its 1,445th posting, this blog is having an identity crisis. What is it and why does it exist?
Lately, blogger.com, the Google-owned service that hosts my blog, has been a bit unreliable, as has the email client gmail. Both seem a bit unstable, relatively speaking, which reminds me of the author of this blog.
I've always known this was going to be a virtual memoir, a sort of journal about my life and the lives of those I love. But there are all kinds of problems pulling it off. First, very importantly, are privacy concerns. I don't want to violate anyone's privacy, least of all those closest to me.
So, I tend to hold back on telling details that might be used by someone with nefarious intentions. No one needs to know exactly where somebody else lives, what their precise daily routines are, when their house might be unoccupied, how much money they have, who their BFF is, what their likely passwords could be, or any other proprietary information.
It might surprise you, but as a journalist, one quite practiced in locating people, interviewing them, and acquiring access to their thoughts and feelings, I do not enjoy ever compromising another person's privacy.
Rather, I consider it a sacred right, privacy. Each of us needs to feel safe enough to function in whatever way we feel is appropriate for us, in the moment, and over time.
In this context, I do worry about young people. My students at Stanford introduced me to Facebook soon after it launched. One of them created a page for me, many of them linked to my page. I looked at their pages and saw photos of them that I knew would not be useful, shall we say, in a professional context in the years to come.
These were, by and large, party pix, young people drinking and linking and generally having a good time, which is always a good thing in my book.
Over the years, as they age, people tend to try and clean up their past, which is natural. At one stage of life, showing off is fun and natural. At another, it is a problem.
By my stage, there really is nothing to show off about. I'm just an old man, writing about the past, the present, and the future (if there is one.)
I am therefore trying to find the right balance in all of this, knowing that these blog posts live on and on in a way that a private journal never did in the past. At best, a family member had custody of it; at worst, it crumbled into dust.
See -- I am a sharer. Why? Because I suspect that this may turn out to matter, in ways I cannot comprehend while I'm still here. Maybe it will have mattered that people tried to tell their truths?
If not, hopefully no one got hurt in the process...
-30-
2 comments:
David,
It could be argued that a blog will not crumble to dust as quickly as a journal, but crumble it will in time. Nothing within this physical universe can be immortal. Everything beyond your soul is temporary.
Natural Law would instruct that death is very final. For every living thing. And, all things known to each of us today can never be again.
Immortality, after all, is a private thing to be found only within. In the context of eternity, you merely dance with the souls of others in the brief time you are in this world. You cannot possess another's soul, nor can they be possessed of yours; each will go its way in turn. You will exit, as you entered, alone.
That some may be remembered beyond their life by others is of only temporary consequence at best. We understand that all things of substance will lose their form to the chaos of Natural Law in time; each of us is left, therefore, with only this moment of conscious awareness to deal.
None of this diminishes the importance of our relationships with others today. Indeed, all of this presses the urgency of focusing our energies upon those around us for the greater good of it now.
Your blog, above all else, is merely dancing with the souls of those who would be touched by it. To find immortality, you will have to look within. It is only there that you will find the hand of God reaching out to you - eternally.
Dan
Nicely put, but I have zero interest in attaining immortality. I am nothing more than an ordinary mortal who accepts that his time here on earth is finite. Plus I am an atheist, so I doubt "souls" exist, except in Motown. To be clear: I do not write to be famous, rich, important or even remembered, and certainly not immortal. My goal is simply to contribute to the conversation in real-time. Maybe there will be someone else this helps. I just don't want it to hurt anybody in the process. Just as in Johnny Cash's immortal song. We all indeed are little more than collections of dust. So be it. But while we exist we also have voices. This blog is my attempt to use mine, however imperfect, inadequate, and indeed mortal.
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