I’ve lost the desire to share this website with others. It’s hard to see the point. If you aren’t selling something, then there’s little reason to reach out. I can see how someone may genuinely believe that their words can change the world, but I think it can only change your world, not others.
I still like publishing stuff online, because it forces me to reconsider what I’m writing. It’s easy to write whatever you want in a journal and nothing else comes of it. With publishing, you can at least write for you to read it later. It forces you to ask, “What would I like to read? What would make this coherent?” and other thoughts.
In the alternate reality where I become some sort of famous online blogger, it doesn’t seem all roses. Maybe your words do influence a few, but then you become a statue for others to look up to when you’re also looking up. And you have to write a lot of self-censoring in most respects. Not have to, but it makes sense to.
It all boils down to the question of what does one gain by becoming a famous blogger, or by blogging and publishing these pages. We’ve already nailed the “write in a way where you’d read it later” and the other motives would be “to impact people” and most importantly, “to open up doors.” Whether that be fruitful relationships, or just a nice way to put “making money” — I doubt famous blogging is conducive to friendships, just business partners. Seeing as I don’t believe in impacting others, let’s look at making money.
To make money on your blog you’ll have to be consistent, constantly self-censoring, and there are a lot of funny truths hanging around any sort of communication with others that you probably tip-toe around as long as you want to be relevant. Furthermore, I think blogging isn’t really all too good fun, and making blog posts while being a slave to public opinion seems like the opposite of a good time. Being able to spitball on my own terms here is what makes it nice. So you couldn’t pay me to constantly blog about things I don’t care about. Which is most of the things that make you a successful blogger.
I mean, the notable bloggers I know do talk some relevant things, whether it be running a business, creating some technology, talking shop—but I don’t care about technology and I don’t want to talk about whatever business I do have; it’s difficult to make business talk profitable that feels gratifying and not snake-oil-y. In these domains—technology, business—it makes more sense to be silent and go to work. Any other topics for notable blogging I’m not aware of nor have any expertise in, so all doors-of-opportune-blogging are shut, aren’t they?
Seeing as “making money” and “impacting others” are void, “writing in a way you’ll read later” is the last pillar and that pillar is simply satisfied with no one reading this but me.
A funny thing about “selling something” that I said at the beginning: the transaction doesn’t need money to conduct. You could be selling your religion, your view, you could be cramming that down others. It doesn’t have to be about money at all. It’s about, ultimately, a desire to influence someone into “purchasing” what would benefit you i.e. if you believe in veganism, then you would try to sell that to others to shape a world where vegans are plentiful, and that benefits you whether to shore-line your internal despair of the endless slaughter, or to make more vegan products, maybe make a world you feel you belong to more.
I just don’t have any causes I sincerely believe in to the point where it warrants selling abstracts to people. And I don’t care about belonging anywhere anymore, either, so no use in that. I’ll make my own world and let the outer world be consumed by it; it technically already is.
If you’re going to sell things, may as well aim for a transaction that’s agnostic: trading paper imaginary green slips that, for some reason, you can trade for hard assets.
Welcome to island-side living, I’ll be your host. Here are some coconuts and let’s have a toast.
“To the disinterested and distant!” so I’ll smirk, “as they are the ones who unravel their Mayflower toward new worlds.”