From A Sand Castle to A Stone Palace -- Tweets and Blogs

A thought from a friend:

In my contemplation about me writing about something, and while I was writing a blog (that I wrote before this entry), I have further realized today the huge difference between blogs and tidbits of thoughts that go to various social-networking sites such as Plurk or Twitter.

"Nuggets of wisdom" only contain small flakes of knowledge, or thought in them. Yes, they can be expounded, but they will only expound once further thought is given unto them. A balloon won't inflate unless one breathes into them or pumps them air.

I have in the past reflected a lot of times about me not writing as much anymore compared to the first few years that I started this blog. Yes, I love writing, I love expressing my thoughts, and I love learning more about myself. But, it's not the type of love that I devote myself entirely to writing. I am not a writer by profession. I am not a writer by title. I am only a writer by want, and by choice.

My knack for writing continuously (in this blog) had come to a sort of hiatus starting the time that I felt like writing was a matter of impressing through expressing, expressing through the number of entries I write, and by expressing whenever I felt like something needs to be expressed, but couldn't be -- those that Wittgenstein claims should be treated with silence. "What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence" (Tractatus 7), but I still find myself struggling and forcing myself to speak out what cannot be spoken.

Another reason why I had lesser and lesser blog entries is because of the advent and the then-rising popularity of micro-blogging sites (Plurk, Twitter, etc.) -- they're now really popular (especially the latter). They greatly decreased my personal appeal to blogs, although I love them in essence. "Micro" as they were, they remained as small dots, and dashes, that just could not make a straight line. I'd be lucky enough to scoop my hands through them like dust, and hold them together for moments, until what's left of their diminishing number is a tiny mound of sand. Aside from the said reasons, I can't think of others, although there still might be more.

There's just a difference when you write a piece, your thoughts. There's a whole lot o learning. There is depth, and there is form. You don't just see the particles that make up something, you see what the particles create. You don't expect the pieces to create their selves on their own. You should be the one to piece them together with your own hands, not just your imagination. Your imagination is only the abstract of the extent or potentiality of them to become what they can be -- a whole piece. The most that we might make out of the snippets of our thoughts (Tweets, Plurks) would be Sand Castles. But, if we take a moment and give more time to actually think, and then write, we get the chance to learn more, create understanding, and generate knowledge. We build palaces that are either made up of wood, or even stone.

I am writing this because I believe I have found again and realized more about what the importance of writing is to me. I think I now understand more why I write, why I share, why I post. I am not promising more entries, because I know now that it is not about numbers. But, what I can promise is that I know what writing means to me now, after trying to search for what it means to me from the start.

Notes: the friend I was referring to is J. Miguel Quizon. Thank you very much for the thoughts on writing. Anticipating to learn more from you soon! :)

References about "silence" include:

- Wittgenstein, Ludwig. 1953. Philosophical Investigations. Translated by G.E.M. Anscombe. Oxford: Basil Blackwell
- _____. 1974. Tractatus logico-philosophicus. Translated By D.F. Pears and B.F. McGuinness. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Blogs vs. Plurks: The Memorial Value

I was supposed to blog something... but ended up just 'plurking' it. I believe that there is a big difference with the value that a blog has than that of a plurk.

Blogs are more... I may say, intimate. That is how I treat my blogs. My plurks, on the other hand, are more 'public'. Why are they public? First of all, I linked them to my Facebook account. That means that all ordinary plurks (without the !FB keyword) will automatically get posted to FB. Yes. That's it. So, it means that everyone will get to read it.

I plurk most of the time to share something 'public', something that others can agree on... something that I want to shout out to the world. I just remembered, my Plurk's also linked to my Twitter account. That's how PUBLIC it is. :))

My blogs, now, are the sentimental ones. They are linked to my heart. I write my biggest secrets (well not all of them, but a lot of them I've written already... but on a different one, not on this blogsite). One may notice, if they know my plurk activity as compared to my blogging habits, that I plurk more than I blog. Hey, plurkin may also be considered as micro-blogging... but when I refer to 'blogging', I refer to this blogger site/account.

Okay... I think that my plurks outnumber my blogs because of several reasons... one of which is the ease of using it. It's also attached to my Yahoo! Messenger account so that whenever I think of something very sudden, when something pops out of my mind out of the blue, I can instantly record it.

I don't really believe in the immortality of saving your thoughts on an online repository like the internet... I have this belief that some day in the future... everything will be gone. We will run out of resources because we only know how to consume. There are groups that are starting movements for renewability. But, at least, whatever essence our thoughts create... it will remain forever in the air as everything disappears, and as we come back to dust... We have on source, and to that we will return in the end. If we look at it closer, nothing really disappears (law of physics). Whatever our thoughts produce, it fulfills whatever purpose it has.

Now, what can I say about memories? I say that we make them worthwhile... and make them last while they're there... and let's just create more of 'em. In my experience, there were lots of good things in my life. But my humanness limits my ability to keep all of them afresh all the time. It may be a rare moment to feel that special and sentimental experience of everything past. :)

Even though I don't believe in the immortality of the internet, I believe I should still make an effort of reaching out and sharing my thoughts to the world through my writing.

Blog-Babying

You know what, I've had quite a long break from writing personal blogs. I'm trying to find out the reason why, but tonight, I can only go down on pointing one reason. Just to clarify, though, I'm not saying that it's the only reason. I believe that there are a lot more reasons behind me not writing, and losing the "feel" or the "urge" to write any more passionate than I do before.

The first reason I tried blogging out was when it was still probably the year 2007, February, when I was really wondering what blogs are. Sure, I have an idea of what it is, but being a skeptical person, I puke out what I know, do not believe them, and only really grasp what they mean when I get a first-hand relevant experience of them.

I was also starting to collect and compose short text-message verses, and quotes. Some of those, I've turned into nice short poems. That's when I officially started writing poems, and really delved into poetry. It was a nice start.

February 2007 also marked the start of us having our first-ever decent DSL connection. That was a time when Broadband internet connection started making its way into Philippine mainstream, beginning to eradicate dial-up connections. It was really timely as I've just created my first-ever blog while in school, a few days ago before the official internet connection is set-up.

At my first shot at writing the blogs, my main activity revolved around transferring compositions (poetry, quotes, sayings, thoughts) that I've saved in my mobile phone. Back then, it was my handy and ever-present "diary", whenever the computer and the keyboards to write with were not available.

Things got better and my writing "skills", if there is such a thing, improved. I moved forward to writing directly to the blogs. I composed poems right on the spot, mainly focusing on the idea of love for the initial blog posts. Some, about fear, about principles, about youth, life, and other relevant things to me back then (very teenage-like).

Today, I'm suffering from "loss-of-fresh-content" syndrome. Hahaha. I can't even write anything new to my blogs. I feel like it's a commitment that I do not know of anymore. It's like a lost love, or a too familiar part of you that it doesn't matter anymore whether it's there or not, in a good or bad situation.

Two years after creating a blog, I've created this particular online fancy journal account called "plurk". It's some sort of short-journal writing site that allows your friends to view your "status" or read the thoughts that you wrote for them to see. It's fun to use and quite different because your thoughts are shared on the mainstream. At some point, though really short, I think I've become addicted to it.

The main difference between "plurk" and blogging is that blogging is more personal. It's more introspective and reflective. It's more "permanent". Plurking or "plurks" can be tracked back all the way from the start, but it's not really meant for that. It's something like thing of the moment, and it's made for that. It's basically an "update" material.

I love the personal touch of blogs. Though right now, I can't fully appreciate it yet, I believe that my attachment to it, although none is really required by anything or anyone, will be for the long-term, say eternal.

Blogs should be "babied". They should be given extreme personal care. They should be trusted, watched-over carefully, and committed time to. Without those things, they're without life. I hope to baby my blog. I hope to revive my connection to it. To do that, I have to find my reason, and the hidden exceptional purpose in it. Maybe then, I'll have known what to do, and how to do it.

"I'm back" (Matthew version :p)

Hindi lang si McArthur ang may line na ganun! It's not original and claimable by and individual to 'invent' that line anyway. :)

In my previous post, I said that something's stopping me. I said that I'd be away muna...now, am officially back in business (as usual) wuhahaha! :) Hehe...ayun sulat2 ulit! Wahehehe...lapit na pasko, sarap gumala and mag-treat ng ibang tao. :) makes ur heart leap!

God bless everyone!