Keeping it real

I must admit I find it hard to believe, but somewhere between the posting of this entry and the next, the number of hits on WDKY will exceed the 30,000 mark. It’s amazing really… we all start off not knowing who, if anyone, will want to read about the minutiae of our lives, but somewhere along the way the momentum gathers and we seem to find an audience. What we believe will be a relatively unimportant element of our interface with the outside world becomes far more important than we would ever have imagined. Welcome to the world of the blog.

This – my – blog was started with the sole purpose of putting some thoughts down on “paper”… something to mark my passage through an interesting phase of my life, a phase of change and adjustment. And perhaps something to look back on when I need to put my life into some kind of perspective. Somewhere along the way, it’s possible that I forgot this purpose, and began to write with an audience in mind. Is this a bad thing? Does it make what I say any less authentic? I suspect the answer to both questions is no… well, it’s a definite no to the second, I assure you. I want what I write to be a true account of who I am; I think it has been and my intention is that it always will be. And I suspect that those who happen to have stumbled across me in “real life” would be quick to point out any inconsistency between the person they know me to be and the persona who presents himself to the world through this particular medium. It’s a useful control measure, isn’t it?

Reality is a strange thing… we all have our own version that we construct around us, and I suspect that a lot of people who regularly stop by to read my (sometimes inane) ramblings will understand what I mean when I say that there’s a definite “reality” to this process we call blogging. It can be uplifting, cathartic, therapeutic… all of those things, but it also allows us a glimpse inside the thoughts and the worlds of others who are willing to share some very intimate parts of themselves. There’s a commonality to our motives, even if the approach is different. And it’s a community that I’m glad I discovered.

It's not a phrase I normally use, but I'm tempted to sign this one off by saying “keep it real”, and I hope you know what I mean. Authenticity is important, and authenticity is what I give you. What else do I have (well, aside form the odd glimpse of flesh)?


Darkneuro, I do believe number 30,000 was you! Choose your gift...