For a while now I've had an inkling to start blogging about my personal thoughts and experiences. However - as with most things - I wanted my motivations to be powerful enough to follow through and dedicate time towards putting them into action. Well, after much thought and deliberation, here I am; and, what better way to start this off than to explore why I eventually made the leap.
I've always enjoyed writing; but, unfortunately, I just haven't been able to make use of the skill all that often. In 2020 though - whilst furthering my studies in Computer Science - I was forced to embrace academic literature. Now, while writing from a scientific standpoint comes with constraints in terms of structure and creativity, it made me cognisant of how writing as a general medium can help clarify and expand upon one's ideas. I was also lucky enough to stumble upon a few conversations which helped me build on this thought. For instance, a close friend explained to me how she would write about her dreams as soon as she woke. Another friend told me about his journal, in which he would write whenever he had a collation of thoughts he felt worth noting down. It would seem life was throwing just enough inspiration at me to convince me that writing was worth embracing.
Logically, the next step was to decide what to write about. A few things crossed my mind. I could write about Computer Science and my professional experiences as a Software Engineer. I could write about my hobbies like fitness or travelling. I could even be brave and attempt to write about philosophy and my reasoning about life and its purpose, or lack thereof. The thing is, I can't be sure that any of these are going to stay constant throughout my lifetime. I'm a lateral thinker. I enjoy a diversity of topics and, naturally, these are constantly changing. I don't want to constrain myself to a field, however vast, about which I may not be as passionate in a year as what I am now. Therefore, I've taken the broadest approach possible: I'll write about anything and everything. Whatever I feel has hankered my mind long enough for me to want to write about, I'll write about.
The only question that remains is why I've decided to blog and not just keep a diary or a journal; after all, my justifications up to this point could all be satisfied without putting what I write out there for the world to see. I have an answer for this but I predict it may only resonate with a select few people. The answer comes from the idea of spiritual oneness - in feeling at one with all things, it seems only reasonable to consider the public opinion when writing, because the public opinion is just another part of my own perspective. Simply put, I think that writing for others requires a different mindset than that of writing only for oneself; and, I consider it worthwhile to delve into that mindset to sufficiently elaborate on my apprehensions of specific topics. I hope that makes sense.
Finally, just because I can't escape my need for structure, I want to commit myself to writing a blog post once every month from hereon out. Consider this a sort of footnote that serves as a reminder of that commitment. I'll also conclude each post with a greeting and quote - read into the quote whatever meaning you will.
Until next time. Namaste.
"You don't look out there for God, something in the sky, you look in you." - Alan Watts