August 10, 2010

• Project Positive: This Blog's for You.

  

  Project Positive: This Blog's for you.

  Dear Xangan,

  You might have been present at the inception of this blogging service, or you might have started blogging here yesterday. You may be incredibly wordworthy, a fantastic writer and master of the English language, or you may be from another country than I, and your language is fleeting, sporadic, and haltingly imprecise. You may be pretty popular here on Xanga, or you might be shy and intimidated by others you perceive as more experienced in the art of social networking.

  You may be male, female, childish, rich in the throes of youthful abandon, or older, more experienced, and sure of yourself. You may be a master of HTML coding, and your blog is fantastically presented, with lots of groovy graphics and wonderful words. Or you may be "computer illiterate" and might not even know how to make a link.

  The world is a big place, teeming with wonder and specialness. Before the internet, the various denizens of the world population pretty much had to keep to themselves and the souls within their close vicinity. Now, almost a couple of decades after the institution of the internet became a part of so many of our lives, we can use this great medium not only to find the answers to almost any question, but to find camaraderie and friendship all over this grand world.

  The sliver of life which presents itself on your blog is unique and also universal. You may write about your daily routine such as it is, interspersed with family tales, photos of your pets, and good tidings for all. Or else you may be a bit snarky, with a strange sense of humor you find stimulated and goaded to perfection in this environment. You may think your boyfriend, husband, wife, special gal, dearly departed family member, goldfish, dog, cat, hampster, or ferret is the center of your personal universe, and this drives your musings , or else you consider yourself a true writer, chronicling the ongoing history of pop culture, or contributing to the arts and letters of humanity.

  You may be incredibly religious, and you wish to preach the word of whichever diety you worship to the masses. Or else you are secular and scientific, regaling your audience with facts and figures inherently important to you.

  You are funny. You are meticulous. You are sad. You are informative. You are a human being who has coupled with the technological advances of internet social networking so much that your blog is a part of you, and your readers can tell this simply by visiting your corner of cyberspace.

  You could be blogging somewhere else, but you chose to become a Xangan, a badge which carries with it the promise of new friends, new experiences, and new connections, and perhaps the re-establishment of old ones. You may blog each and every day, spitting out bits of wisdom in your pulses. Or you may have no pulse, and might decide to only pen a few important words every two or three weeks.

  You might be a staple of the "front pages" of the Xanga world, constantly looking for your internet fame and forturne, or you may keep to yourself, rarely visiting other blogs in the Xangasphere.

  Dear, delightful Xangan. I sometimes think I know you well, and sometimes I don't know you at all. You may be nakedly honest as an "individual", or slyly invisible, preferring to act omnipresent in the community. You are all the parts of an incredible experience in world communication, whether you know it or not.

  Thank you for your posts. They are the glue which binds your blog together, and which in fact binds the whole community. Thank you as well for your comments, those reminders that we are not only together as a people, but we sometimes agree, and sometimes disagree, but that doesn't stop us from continuing the conversation.

  I wrote a poem a long time ago called "Thank you for you." I wish to dedicate this sentiment to you, the eternal Xangan, whether you are here right now reading this, or whether you left in the past and will never glimpse this tribute to your blog's ongoing existence.

  It's not the words or the pictures. It's not the videos or the coding. It's not the toolbars or the modules or the themes which are important in life. In actuality, it's not the blogging service or even the internet which binds us. It is our humanity, our shared existence as humans which matters most in our lives. The internet, and Xanga in particular, from my standpoint, have helped, and are currently helping to foster good will and friendship amongst humans. And this is important.

  Dear Xangan, thank you for being a part of this individual life. This blog's for you!

  Yours most respectfully,

  Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool

  ---

  I am reposting "This Blog's for you" for Scott Christian's (RazielV) Project Positive. Visit other "positive" blog entries from the Project Positive blog! And don't forget to recommend Project Positive blog entries from around the Xangasphere. In case my entry might "look familiar" it is because this is actually a "wayback post" from May 7th of last year, and was originally written for the Featured Grownups blogring site. I'm really proud of Scott and I'm glad that Project Positve posts are appearing on Xanga's front pages, hopefully replacing the backbiting and quarrelsome posts which usually litter Top Blogs. Way to go, Scott. It seems that you've planted an "idea" in the collective subconscious of Xanga, and it's growing larger every minute. MFN/ppf 

  EDIT 8/11/10 6:30 a.m. pdt. I've written over 40 letter/comments in the last 24 hours, when I decided to join in the Project Positive campaign. I haven't yet "returned comments" on this entry, which did get up to #7 on Top Blogs, but I did visit and comment each of the posted participants on the PP site (up till about 8pm yesterday) recommending their entries, and introducing myself if I didn't already "know" them. When I first read Scott's proposal for the Project Positive campaign, I commented: I nominate my whole blog. Some of us here in the Xangasphere are always attempting to project a positive attitude. I've blogged about potentially negative subjects like abuse, suicide, depression, and living with a  handicap, but in these posts I have pointed out that although there is much dread and sadness in the world, there is also a bright new day dawning tomorrow with endless possibilities. I visited quite a few blogs projecting positive attitudes even without the benefit of the PP campaign, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to visit them, and saw that some of these entries made it to Top Blogs. I hope the momentum doesn't stop, and that I see more and more enlightening entries featured on Xanga. MFN/ppf

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