just another day

Boundless has always been a great resource for me since way back in 2001. Recently, there was an article called 'Ordinary People' which has rocked my boat. It talks a lot about the ubiquitous-ness of blogs and other personalised chat groups (facebook and youtube included) but it seems paradoxical as we have always guarded our rights to personal privacy, yet unashamedly flaunt all for the world (supposedly) to see. Why do I write this blog? I don't think more than 10 people read it, and there is no earth shattering stuff or even calibre-laden writing. Maybe I want to be a 'micro-celebrity' too? The point that "the less gifted among us are willing to fart ourselves into the spotlight" (Lakshmi Chaudhry) is jarring. Sometimes its true - all of this can be so ordinary? Who really cares anyway? I will quote more of it:

"While the narcissism Chaudhry mentions no doubt plays a part, there's a desperate quality to much of what's posted that can't only be explained by the belief that you are incredibly fascinating. Few of the revelations involve scientific breakthroughs, blazing insights or joining Al Qaeda — much of the stuff being revealed is quotidian to the point of banality. Who hasn't been through a break-up or even experienced painful personal loss?

This recitation of the stuff of everyday life is a tacit admission that the revealers, on some level, know that, as Tyler Durden would no doubt tell them, they're not "beautiful and unique snowflakes." They know that they're, in fact, fairly ordinary and they can only meet their "need to feel significant and admired and, above all, to be seen" through the quantity and explicitness of their revelations, not their quality. Ironically, in a world where many of your peers are doing the same, this self-revelation makes them seem more ordinary, not less.

This begs an obvious question: What's wrong with being ordinary? A lot, if you live in a culture like ours that has turned "ordinary" into an epithet, a synonym for "mediocre." Then, the fear of being (or appearing) "ordinary" exceeds the fear of possible humiliation or any other repercussions of inappropriate disclosure."

My friend steve once said "blogging? yea, it helps to soothe the loneliness". hmmm. What's really going on in our existence? (see next blog)