I blog to change myself

This is interesting.

On page IT15 of InTech pullout from The Star today is a feature article titled, "Why Blogs Wont Change The World."

Written by Seth Finkelstein, the opening line of the article says, "The use of censorware by repressive governments is now becoming a legitimate policy matter."

Some other interesting sound-bites:-

"... the very rare person who achieves substantial influence via a blog is often widely touted as a success story." (Jeff and RPK could be good examples in the Malaysian context.)

"But the complementary outcome is not widely publicised - that is, all the people who are blogging their hearts out and never being heard beyond a tiny fan audience." (Sadly, that's probably you and me here.)

"Talking mainly among a small self-selected group can also lead to a very misleading impression of the reach of one's ideas." (N.A.B. or All-Blogs?)

"... when looking into a hall of mirrors, it's very easy to mistake all those reflections for a crowd of supporters." (Again, YOU-know-who.)

"The result can be a very large amount of wasted energy, with the only gainers being blog evangelists."

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I thought it is rather delusional for a person to actually start a blog with the intention to "change the world."

I started this blog as an outlet to the many thoughts and arguments that swirled in my head each time I read something that provoked me.

And there's no shortage of ideas just from reading the newspapers each morning. But even I get bored of the same arguments each day.

But more than anything else, this blog has allowed me to step out of my box the way I am rather hesitant to do in the real world. I have learned to "see" things not in the way I am so used to seeing but from many different angles. And that is pretty cool to me.

This blog is only as interesting to me as it's usefulness in contributing to my personal growth.

Am I happy "even with a select group of devotees" as opined by Mr Finkelstein?

I'm happy because the few who continue to read what I write have contributed to my sense of ego-wellbeing. Writing a blog is essentially talking to oneself and when strangers come together to make you feel heard, and in the process, offer an invisible hand of friendship in all sincerity - that's VERY satisfying to me.

But Mr Finkelstein also suggested that, "... it's also quite reasonable to be unhappy at not getting beyond that level."

Maybe to those who set out to blog into fame and fortune, I guess.

I blog to change myself. And I'm happy that there is a small group of people out there who is sharing this personal journey with me.

It's not easy to muster the enthusiasm to continue blogging to a small audience.

And it's also no mean feat for the same people to continue dropping by and support my efforts.

So, hey, THANK YOU!!!