More on "My Art"
A few weeks ago I went on a rant about not considering blogging an "art" form. I stand by that - but it doesn't mean that I don't constantly evaluate what blogs and blogging brings to my life. This post by Grant McCracken (who has my heart and mind anyway) is a cool evaluation of the phenomenon of blogs and the blogosphere.
McCracken describes the nature of blogging as an activity that forces it's participants to develop a heightened awareness of their own limitations, alongside an ability to accept imperfection in the name of speed. If you're not posting quickly and often, you're not blogging, you're just writing. He discusses the general blogger's (and readers') Holy Grail - a thematic approach or (as I read it) a voice that adds insight to a variety of topics.
This makes perfect sense to me and it illuminates part of why I blog and why I read blogs: to learn more about how I view things. The more I write in this blog, the better understanding I have of what I think and why I think it. The function of the blog for me is to capture my random thoughts (that I've always had) for posterity, so when I review them as a whole, I can see the patterns and understand how my beliefs and observations connect to one another.
Have I actually done this little self-analytical project? Well, no. But I'm sure I will, at some point. A year ago, I read my diaries from middle school and high school. I was insane, much like every teenage girl. At 28, I was able to pull a lot of insight from that insanity. Since these posts are less emotional than a diary, I'm hoping that in a year, I'll have enough perspective to read them and learn something interesting about my worldview.
And I am aware of the inherently self-involved and slightly obnoxious nature of turning myself into some sort of academic study. I'm doing it anyway. I'll just try not to talk about it in public.
McCracken describes the nature of blogging as an activity that forces it's participants to develop a heightened awareness of their own limitations, alongside an ability to accept imperfection in the name of speed. If you're not posting quickly and often, you're not blogging, you're just writing. He discusses the general blogger's (and readers') Holy Grail - a thematic approach or (as I read it) a voice that adds insight to a variety of topics.
This makes perfect sense to me and it illuminates part of why I blog and why I read blogs: to learn more about how I view things. The more I write in this blog, the better understanding I have of what I think and why I think it. The function of the blog for me is to capture my random thoughts (that I've always had) for posterity, so when I review them as a whole, I can see the patterns and understand how my beliefs and observations connect to one another.
Have I actually done this little self-analytical project? Well, no. But I'm sure I will, at some point. A year ago, I read my diaries from middle school and high school. I was insane, much like every teenage girl. At 28, I was able to pull a lot of insight from that insanity. Since these posts are less emotional than a diary, I'm hoping that in a year, I'll have enough perspective to read them and learn something interesting about my worldview.
And I am aware of the inherently self-involved and slightly obnoxious nature of turning myself into some sort of academic study. I'm doing it anyway. I'll just try not to talk about it in public.
posted by Kit Pollard at
1:11 PM
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