I blog, therefore I am

Cogito ergo sum – Descartes

Blogito ergo sum – malawihazel (and probably someone before me)

I would like to talk of two blogs, belonging to two old friends of mine – one from school and one from university. I started reading these blogs at around the same time, and they were the very inspiration that started me blogging. Although very different, the blogs had the common theme of being created when the authors moved (or were about to move) somewhere new. They are both brilliant, and I love reading them. However, over the last couple of months, their upkeep has withered. This entry is to try to encourage the authors to get back on blogging form (presuming they are still reading mine).

In an earlier post, I spoke of a blog being a reflection of identity. I would like to take this thought further and suggest that blogging is philosophy-forming. When our thoughts are documented, they reveal a lot about our state of mind at the time. There is an intersection of many factors - new experiences and relationships; our history, upbringing, education and beliefs; similarities and difference; emotions; and the context we are in. Our interpretation of the world around us is being represented in the (relatively) new form of a website with the possibility of those we choose (and sometimes those we don’t choose) to comment. We are representing ourselves.

Without always realising it, we are exploring what, for us, constitutes knowledge (a social construction?). We are revealing how and where our beliefs are being challenged, when we question what we previously thought was granted. Our imaginations are being exercised and a record (or log) is being produced. This is part of working out what we really believe in.

Expressions of autonomy.
Place-making.
How we fit into our environment.
That beautiful ‘thing’ - subjectivity.
Questions of what we want to write about and how to depict a situation.
The language we choose to use.
Meaning.

And on a more grounded note - I also find that since I started blogging, I have acquired a new appreciation for words. I use the dictionary or rather dictionary.com a lot more and am finding words can be really fun (said at the risk of sounding like a complete loser). The other day my finger pressed the d key instead of the s and I inserted the word ‘strawberried’ into my sentence. Isn’t it a wonderful word? Wouldn’t you love to be strawberried? Another time I was reading (and obviously not concentrating very well) and I came across the phrase “the danger bears”. Thoughts and images flew through my mind, I was fascinated by who these bears could be. After further investigation, I found the sentence (split over two lines) “the danger bears down on us”.

So please start blogging again, and share the evolution of your philosophy of life with those around you. Admittedly, now that I am working full time, my need for updates on these blogs is not as pressing as when I was only studying and had all the time in the world…. But still, they make me feel closer to friends who are far away. They are also important for times like now when I am taking a break from work to write an assignment (and therefore need some procrastination) – and yes, you guessed right – I am writing a methodology paper about the philosophical underpinnings of my dissertation.

P.S. I must add that I have just had a look at the one blog, and seeing as there have been three posts in the last two weeks, perhaps this entry doesn’t apply to it anymore. Welcome back!! Wanna meet up for a glass of red wine to discuss whether one should be or do? Do you remember that t-shirt that Marcus had – it went something along the lines of:

To do is to be - Descartes
To be is to do - Voltaire
Do be do be do - Frank Sinatra

Funny – our blogs seem to be in tune right now.

As for the other blogger – you are still rubbish.