Once ... A Requiem For Blogging
Once ... there was sound ...
Sometimes shouting in caps, sometimes the squiggles of laughter, sometimes punctuated tears of an impossible sorrow or an unwavering rage, sometimes the typography of letters that broke down into whispers that I could barely hear. Still there was sound if you listened with your heart.
Once ... there was friendship ...
Not tangible, not someone you could hug and feel body to body or even cheek to cheek, not an afternoon drinking coffee or tea together and talking about serious matters or chatting about trivialities, nothing real in a real sense but real all the same.
Once ... there was sharing ...
Words floating across the miles, words of heartache and solitude, words of a full life, words of joy and words of despair, words that were truly impossible to understand, but words that were there.
Once ... there was love ...
Now shadows flickering from behind a half-opened door, now faces that change by never changing, now an emptiness and the desperate search for the before-now, the days when there was someone there and always there, and now all that was there is gone and what's left is silence ...
Once ... there was sound ...
Sometimes shouting in caps, sometimes the squiggles of laughter, sometimes punctuated tears of an impossible sorrow or an unwavering rage, sometimes the typography of letters that broke down into whispers that I could barely hear. Still there was sound if you listened with your heart.
Once ... there was friendship ...
Not tangible, not someone you could hug and feel body to body or even cheek to cheek, not an afternoon drinking coffee or tea together and talking about serious matters or chatting about trivialities, nothing real in a real sense but real all the same.
Once ... there was sharing ...
Words floating across the miles, words of heartache and solitude, words of a full life, words of joy and words of despair, words that were truly impossible to understand, but words that were there.
Once ... there was love ...
Now shadows flickering from behind a half-opened door, now faces that change by never changing, now an emptiness and the desperate search for the before-now, the days when there was someone there and always there, and now all that was there is gone and what's left is silence ...
Sad but beautiful thoughts about things that we treasured. "Once" can be a lonely word.
ReplyDeleteI guess I miss the repartee that used to be a part of blogging the most. There was a time when you could go to your computer and there would always be something new to read. Now, it's a country mile between posts, and some of the fences I once walked along are broken down altogether.
DeleteYou are too smart for the kinds of solace I could offer…but see, there are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's 0.1 and 0.12 and 0.112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities… I cannot tell you how thankful I am for the little infinity you give us by keeping your blog fresh.
ReplyDeleteHmmm ... not as smart as you may think ... but not sad, just frustrated sometimes ...
DeleteIt's sad to see something that was "once" important to so many of us all but come to an end. Perhaps one of these days something better will come along and blogging will be born again. Until then, please do whatever makes you happy.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm quite happy writing for myself ... but again, there are days when I am writing something in my head, and by the time I sit down at the computer, I end up saying, "What's the use?"
DeleteFrankly, I'd read your grocery lists.
DeleteI think you are one blogger who will always get hits or feedback, on your work. I see your point, though, that there are many days when you don't see another post, by another blogger. Maybe, you also need to join a professional writers' blog site?
ReplyDeleteI have never thought of myself as that good a writer ... just a hack from Canada ... ;o}
DeleteYou are right ... there is a definite silence within the blogging world ... sad really ... but I do believe the bonds of true friendship will always have a connection.
ReplyDelete"I do believe the bonds of true friendship will always have a connection."
DeleteYes, I certainly hope that is true. Odd, though, that so many "friends" have disappeared ...
I guess cyber world has become a part of reality ... a part of life. People come and people go ... little universes bouncing and swirling around ... touching and meeting ... then drifting off into new horizons ...
DeleteIts all about connection and what we gain or loose from that. Even those we no longer hear from ... there is a silent thread of connection .... true friends never die ... not really ... they are forever in our memories ....
I have just about given up...it's nice to get the two or three comments but I think it was more rewarding when there was more discussion happening...I come to check in and sometimes there is nothing new but the group posts...I wonder what the future holds? A few groups have left this place for FB...I don't think I will be posting for groups there...
ReplyDeleteWell, don't give up ... I like your photos and short poems ... always something interesting ...
DeleteThank you :)
DeleteIt has been taken over by Facebook.....
ReplyDeleteI suppose that is true ... and FB works for some people, but not for me ...
DeletePerhaps in the end, all we have left to us is a sort of Twitter mentality, fast food for the brain--a hello, have-a-nice-day diet, bereft of nutrition.
ReplyDeleteI used to post elaborate blogs and photo essays about my life, pages long. I suppose I wrote well enough and expressed enough honest emotion to where people would actually want to read or view my presentations, front to back. They would comment, and often, we'd get a discussion going. Sometimes, the discussion would go on for days, even weeks.
I made many good friends with the mutual sharing of blogs, and lives. This would ofttimes lead us to PM one another, which would lead to chatting on Messenger, which would in turn lead to texts and even phone conversations. I got to know some of these people and their lives quite well.
Today, only one person graces my Messenger list. The rest all dropped off, one by one. I leave their names up there to remind myself of them, and in the hopes that perhaps, one day, I might see their names light up, once again.
In the end, social networking is supposed to be about just that, SOCIAL networking. I still read some terrific blogs these days, but the follow up, the subsequent comments and discussion of ideas seems to be lacking, in some cases missing entirely, leaving only a sterile blog to speak for itself. I would agree, KJ, the lack of participation doesn't exactly inspire one to keep writing.
~Manfred
http://knightsfeather.wordpress.com/
I suppose it has become something of a "sound-byte" universe, and I think that reality is a little disheartening for an old windbag like me ...
DeleteStill, I seem to have a compulsion to write, and I will continue to do so until they put me in the ground ...
I agree with what you have posted in this blog. I'm one of those who have been away fro months without telling why. Things happen in our life that leaves us in sorrow and grief, and focus is else where. Sometimes we just need time, and then come back. Glad to find you here today.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amalie ... nice to see you again ...:o}
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