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art, Blogging, blogs, Creative Nonfiction, creativity, humanity, inspiration, life, sharing, touching, writing
“The function of language is not to inform but to evoke . . . responses.” So writes Jacques Lacan, the French philosopher and linguist.
But perhaps the same could be said of art, or music, or dance. Any creative endeavor. Certainly it’s true of blogging. We create what we do with the explicit purpose of evoking responses from some largely unknown Other. It a very human thing. The desire to touch and to be touched. To share what we love, what evokes responses in us, with the hope of evoking similar responses from them.
I wrote about this some time ago in Blogging and the Accident of Touching. But I wanted to revisit it, to reassess why I put so much time into blogging. What is its value, to me, to others? Why do I persist?
What I love about blogging is being able to share the things that are meaningful to me with others–art, music, poetry, literature, nature. But also discovering from others new art, new music, new ways of looking at and being in the world. That reciprocity. That sense of connection. What do they love that I may love too? How will it deepen and broaden and enrich my own experience of life? Every day is a new discovery, a new love, a new insight into what it means to be.
In that original post I likened blogging to “those conversations we have in the wee hours of the morning . . . ”
“. . . when the party is over and all have left except for those few lingering souls who find themselves opening up to each other in ways they could never do when meeting on the street or over dinner. Those 3 AM conversations, you know.
That’s how blogging often is done too, late at night when we can’t sleep, or after we’ve put our novel to bed, or when we wake early and are seeking the company of other early risers, or those living half-way round the world from us.
We can share our thoughts and evoke responses in our own time, and others can respond in the same way, with a quick “like” or a longer comment. And we can respond in return.
It’s a way of reaching out to others that for some feels more comfortable than the spoken word. I feel I may be getting “the best” of them in those wee hour revelations, as they are getting the best I have to offer, a side of myself I seldom share apart from the written page.
There’s another part to all this, why we write, why we blog, which a woman who would not be forgotten wrote about a thousand years ago:
“Again and again something in one’s own life, or in the life around one, will seem so important that one cannot bear to let it pass into oblivion. There must never come a time, the writer feels, when people do not know about this.” —Shikibu Murasaki, Tale of Genji (978 – 1014 AD)
Touching and being touched, yes. That’s part of why we blog. But also passing along to a larger world something of ourselves that seems too vital to pass into oblivion. In some small way, perhaps, this blogging about our lives, our loves, our insights, our art, is a way of passing on through the minds of others a part of our larger self. Letting it echo out there in the universe for a wider while.
Oh, Debbie, This touches my heart and soul. We really do think and feel the same. You have such a beautiful way of expressing feelings many of us feel (me at the top of the list) but don’t have the talent of putting our feelings into words. I love your writing. Keep up the great work. You speak for many.
Thank you so much, Ginny! Your words touch my heart.
A wonderful reflection of this opportunity we are gifted through blogging, to share a conversation, to remove it from the mind and place it on a page where it might be seen by others, inviting an interaction or inspiring further reflection. Thank you for this on a day when my own blog comes out of a silent period, having been surrounded by company recently and not had a chance to escape into the pleasures of reading and reflecting.
You are so welcome, Claire. I love your blog and look forward to your posts. We all need silent periods, but happy to hear I’ll have the pleasure of reading more from you soon.
Many insightful observations here, much to think about. Your words get at the essence of things. Thank you for sharing them. There’s a lovely joie de vivre in what you’ve written.
Thank you so much. I appreciate that.
Deborah, This is a beautiful post, as are all of your posts. I have asked myself this same question. Why do I pour so much thought and time into a blog when I have no idea who I am reaching. But every once in awhile it comes to my attention that someone has been touched by something I wrote. And that’s why we do it. There is more value in one heart that is touched than in thousands of thoughtless clicks. Just to let you know, in my last newsletter I recommended your blog.
If we advocate for truth and beauty, it may feel like using a slingshot against the big ugly, but well-chosen words aimed at the heart of deception can be powerful.
I love what you say here. It’s so good to know that others feel the same way I do about this. Thank you, too for the recommendation. That really means a lot to me.
Oh, this is wonderful. The words from your previous post and the words rom long ago. Thank you for providing a lovely explanation for why we blog. ❤
I’m am so glad you like this. Thank you.
Excellent post, Deborah. It resonates strongly with my approach to blogging. To influence and let others to influence us is, in my view, one of the core tenets of true human interaction. Best! Marcus
Thank you, Marcus. One of the things I love about blogging is meeting other like-minded people and hearing their thoughts on a subject.
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Thank you for writing this. It so beautifully encapsulated the various moments that have led me to try my hand at blogging. I find this such an encouraging reminder. Thank you again!
You are so welcome, April. I’m happy to meet a fellow blogger. Thank you for coming here.