Hello, Ghost Readers

The idea of blogging is profoundly weird to me.

I like the idea of being more introspective, of really taking some time to reflect on all the things that make up this human experience: the events that shape our lives, the questions that shape our actions, the ideas that shape our selves...I mean, I'm a lover of words, no arguments. The power of language is something that I am acutely aware of (and enthralled with), so the whole writing thing shouldn't be strange to me. I mean, after all, I've been keeping a journal of sorts for a while now; my handy little Moleskine notebook allows me the small luxury of being able to stow away the fleeting bursts of curiosity, inspiration, and realization that would otherwise get lost in the fray of daily life. In fact, there are few things that are as cathartic as pouring out all of your emotions onto a blank page. It makes the intangible, often fuzzy, internal goings-on somehow easier to wrestle with. More manageable.

And blogging should be the same, right? Same principal, different medium. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that blogging will never be the same for me as writing in the traditional sense. When I write, usually, I write for myself. It is a chance for me to quiet the noises of existential uncertainty long enough to get some real one-on-one time with myself. It's like life is so hectic sometimes that I lose track of myself, become a stranger, and I savor those few hours over tea and pen/paper to reconnect. To keep in touch with myself.

But blogging feels different. Even if no one's reading it, I can't shake the idea of a reader; every word I type takes on a different weight because of the public nature of a blog. There's a ghost of an audience, lurking behind my computer screen, nameless and faceless, but there, listening. And suddenly, my words don't have the same reassuring echo. I'm not shouting into an empty room any more.

But maybe that's just me.

On that note, this has got me thinking about an argument we've been having in class about whether or not technology is 'political.' I think I'm beginning to understand what Professor Joe has been saying. All of this thinking about digital text versus scribal text has made me realize: a book is never 'just a book.'

Take that, Aristotle?