Thursday 28 August 2014

blogging


I've just started reading A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, a writer, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest.  In her book, a teenaged Japanese girl has started writing in her diary, beginning with stories about her great grandmother, Jiko.

" This is a problem.  The only reason I can think of for writing Jiko's life story in this book is because I love her and want to remember her....
...And apart from me, who would care?  I mean, if I thought the world would want to know about old Jiko, I'd post her stories on a blog, but actually I stopped doing that a while ago.  It made me sad when I caught myself pretending that everybody out there in cyberspace cared about what I thought, when really nobody gives a shit. And then I multiplied that sad feeling by all the millions of people in their lonely little rooms, furiously writing and posting their lonely little pages that nobody has the time to read because they're all too busy writing and posting, it kind of broke my heart."

Well, that made me take a deep breath!  I flipped through the 'BlogFile' in my brain and realized, once again, that fromtheothersideofseventy is primarily a chance for me to write to myself, an occasion to focus more closely on my thoughts and feelings about life.  A place to post some of my favourite photos, many of our garden.  Since I haven't been in the studio for quite some time, my camera has become my artistic focus. When I look through its lens I seem to see more clearly-  certainly more selectively.

If someone reads my blog entries and looks at my photographs, that's a bonus.

3 comments:

  1. What a thought provoking quote!!! Great insight on social media in general.

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  2. I love your blog posts. You keep them succinct and focused, include lovely images, and don't give in to the typical fifteen feet of text.

    Blog on!

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  3. Your words and photos are always a delight. Thanks for sharing!

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