Thoughts: Why Do I Blog?

opps.. eee...boring lah maca blok urang tu...nadai tuju bah..

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2009-08-20 9:39 AM

A comment left sometime yesterday by an anonymous visitor (using the nickname opps) on my shoutbox left me with quite a mixed reaction.

I was

Surprised: The fact that someone other than my blogger friends IS actually reading MY blog.

Peeved: The fact that the visitor took the cowardice approach of hiding behind a nickname without even an e-mail link.

Amused: The fact that MY blog bothered this person so much that he/she left a comment that he/she found reading MY blog bored the hell outta him/her.

Well, all I can say to you Mr/Ms Opps is that, I blog for myself.

I repeat, MYSELF.

I don't blog for commercial purposes and I don't aim to entertain. I just write because I find it therapeutic. A way for me to seek clarity of mind.

Watch out! I'm thinking.

When I first started this blog 5 years ago (what?! A 'bosan' blog like this can last for that long?! Die already lah you!), I was recovering from a failed relationship. This acted as a sanctuary for me where I can seek refuge and healing. Back then my readership was something like only 3 (or was it 4?) readers, yours truly included. So you see, it wasn't fame or popularity that I aim for.

I write for ME.

Then came the new visitors. I met wonderful people like Junaidix, Carneyz, Cuthess, Puteri and a few more, and from leaving comments on each other's blog, we became online friends. We shared our stories, our good/bad days and we cheered each other up. We SHARED and we CARED. From being merely online friends, I've come to know them in the real world. I became friends with bloggers like Cuthess, Grace, Puteri, Lyana, Coki, Flo, Ubek, Arthur@SuiTuaPui, and then some more (you guys know who you are). So, from being merely a place for my verbal diarrhoea, this blog has evolved into an avenue for me to meet new friends and renew old acquaintances (and even meet a few relatives along the way, like my uncle Desmond).

My blogger turned real life friends / best friends (Cuthess and Grace)

Lyana and Ms Coki who I've recently met and discovered to be as hillarious as their online persona (photo credits to Puteri)

Now, I don't know why they visit my blog: maybe they find it interesting (Good heavens! Really???) or maybe it's just something like a habit. I don't know, you ask them.

But still I write for ME.

If you have bothered to read all my posts (caution though, your eyes might bleed from all that reading), you will notice that in the 5 (unbelievable?!!) years, my writing has somehow evolved. Changed. Be it good or bad, I don't know. I can't kiss my own ass you see. How to puji diri sendiri? Silap-silap syok sendiri pulak.

Sometimes I write about work, life, friends and the occassional rants. I write about everything.

Because I write for ME.

I don't believe in creating a blog where I only put up posts 'copied and pasted' from other sites. A blog that aims only to entertain. And I certainly don't believe in pasting semi-naked pictures of myself to accompany my posts. Yeah, I know that it might gain me more visitors and boosts the readership but for what? It's not the quantity that matters, but quality. Even if I get a lot of readers but they don't give a hoot as to what I am writing, I'd trade the numbers any time for a few readers who really cared enough to find the story behind the writings. To know who I am instead of just another blog to hop in and out of.

They've been reading my 'crappy blog' for years

Because I blog for ME.

And guess what?

It will continue.

p/s:
Now I have no idea whether Mr/Ms Opps will read/is reading this post but anyway, thanks to him/her, I'm inspired to share my thoughts on blogging.
Or maybe he/she won't read it.
Maybe my 'blok' is boring because I wrote in English. Dang that!