Why I Blog

As I set myself down to serious blogging, I wonder what really makes me want to blog. I know this thought has been around since I wrote my first blog but now I have decided to frame for myself a manifesto, a creed, so to say, that I will follow through the rest of my blogging days as strictly as possible. A manifesto, of course, sounds grand and impressive but it is useful too, in the sense that I get a clear idea as to what I expect of myself through blogging; and, as a bonus, I get a nice, easy and well-set path to follow and fall back on all through the long journeys that I perceive myself as taking in the future.

This I believe to be important for I often wander along unknown alleys in my thoughts, and get lost in the mad jumble that arises out of an inability on my part to control and order the way my mind turns. Often ideas slip through my mind that I would like to set down on paper but they are pushed on and out of my mind by others too impatient to wait their turn. A well-defined manifesto and a conscientious setting-down of all I would like preserved of my thoughts is in order and hence this attempt.

I believe that nothing is new under the sun except perceptions. All the nice quotes one frames, all the marvellous ideas one hits upon are not original in the sense that they could not have been the quotes or the ideas of someone else in the past. As Emerson says, we hear reflected back to us our own thoughts in the mouth of genius, bold enough to publish them. What is new in every creative enterprise is not the potential of the creator but the actual, created object or idea. It is the venture itself that is new and not the possibility of it and so what needs to be recorded with great understanding is the realisation of a potential and not a wonder at its being possible. What is important and interesting is the phenomenon itself and what is new is our perception of it.

I believe that phenomena and their observations need to be recorded so they may be understood; and they need to be understood not so we may wonder at their beauty or felicity but that we may know that much is possible for each one of us and so set ourselves to the accomplishment of our potential. Every man is capable of certain things and though all may not have the same potential, all may realise their particular potential and so be rewarded by the accomplishment itself; every other reward is secondary. Man's purpose or destiny is not visible to him but he may strive to attain it and in thus striving, he is encouraged by the proofs of other such endeavours.

I believe that in the realisation of my potential, I need to learn and use language as a means to the expression of ideas that flow through me and suggest the possibility of my establishing an outpost in the dense thickets that surround the world around my perceptions. I need to find answers to questions that trouble me and I need to test the validity of the answers I come up with in the world I experience. To achieve this, I need to express my perceptions and frame my questions and answers in black and white and receive feedback from the world I conduct my conversations with.

I believe all social interaction is a great conversation tending in some sense towards the resolution of primal questions many are troubled with in the course of their existence. I believe the way to realise my potential is to participate in this conversation and record it and this I can achieve only by constantly rejuvenating my thoughts by observing them.

Finally, I believe blogging is ideal for me to reach my ends. A regular and spontaneous recording of my particular thoughts and a constant review of the opinions that others have regarding what interests me will be an easy and entertaining method of self-improvement.

And, of course, I can take out some of my frustrations and anger on my writing and freak out in a controlled manner(?!) :D.