It's destiny that I am writing my 75th blog post after achieving something which I had never dreamt of when I first started blogging. Being featured on a very small but prime piece of IMDb web space is a blessing from above for which I am truly grateful. But what does all of this mean for my blog and for me as a blogger? Frankly Nothing! Sure, the acknowledgment from IMDb and the appreciation from Stanley Park management for my travelogue are welcome pats on the back but I have a long road ahead of me and this is not the time to toot my horn (frankly there will never be a time when I will toot my horn on Life Etc Etc). Milestones give us an opportunity to take a step back and ask some tough questions and today I will not spare myself while asking the tough questions to churn out the essence of this journey.
Life Etc Etc is an amalgamation of all the positive things which keeps one's life going. In my opinion, life is just not a highlight reel of your achievements. Just as you celebrate the highs, you also have to take the lows and everything in between. When you commemorate significant milestones you also have to remember those days where nothing happened because those silent days not only infuse you with perspective but also forge a will of iron within to turn things around. Similarly when you recount the strides you've made you also have to pay tribute to every person, place and situation which helped you make those forays. No one realizes the essence of life all by themselves, thus my blog is a journal and memoir of all the things which have inspired me to be my best.
Question 2: What makes you think that you are qualified to write about life?
Frankly I don't know if I am qualified to write anything about life but I am certainly as competent as anyone is. I realize I've made a paradoxical statement but let me explain. I know I've said this before but I have had an amazing roller coaster of a life. There have been dizzying highs and there have been deplorable lows. I've had the pleasure of interacting with world champions, Olympic heroes and iconic universal greats. I've also had the misfortune of dealing with meddling personalities who would stink up any joint. The diversity of my experiences has taught me to look within to find the answers. I wasn't shouting from rooftops when the going was great and I didn't lament for attention when things were tough. I've also made it a point to practice before I preach something and anything I write about here is not the stuff of imagination but the fruit of actual experience. So here's my question to all of you, whom would you rather hear from, a superficial know-all who doles out life lessons faster than hot dogs or a fellow life traveler who peels away layers of vanity and prioritizes substance over style.
Question 3: What is your motivation behind writing this blog?
Before I answer that question. Let me back up a bit here, before I wrote my first post I established a framework to guide the quality of my posts. There are four rules to which every post on my blog adheres to:
1. To never use my blog as a vehicle to promote myself: As I said before I have a lot to learn and I don't want to fool myself by creating a pseudo-intellectual persona just to garner a couple of views. There's a whole lot of advice floating around in the social media world, in fact there are more people doling out advice than people who are actually implementing it. We need more doers in this world, people who do things not because it's a popular thing to do but because it's the right thing to do. We also need more people to look within. Change comes from within and change is not an overnight process. One of the reasons why I take my time to write blogs is because I am too busy doing things rather than espousing how things need to be done. Hence the greatest motivation behind writing this blog is for it to serve as my conscience keeper. By recording everything I espouse I am not only refining my vision of life constantly but also rallying myself to live up to everything I say.
2. To never put down anyone using my blog: Life is not easy, there are many days which irk us and there are many people out there who rub us the wrong way. I however do not use my blog to vent or voice my frustrations against life or any individual in particular. This doesn't mean I don't have complaints but instead of wasting my time writing about all the things which didn't go right, I choose to correct them with my focus and hard work. Now there have been some blogs of mine which have dabbled in sarcasm but they were only meant to constructively point out those human behaviors which hinder progress.
3. To respond and not to react: Knee jerk reactions have become the order of the day on social media. Somebody says something which is not in sync with your beliefs and you immediately have to put that person down by collecting all the data in the world. The amount of time and energy which is invested in online arguments can easily be spent in turning one's life around. Why are we all so hell bent on proving a point at the cost of breaking a relationship which has taken years to develop or at the cost of losing out on time which is never going to come back? When common sense recedes from a person, ego takes over and whenever I felt I was writing a blog only to prove a point I stopped writing it altogether. I am not interested in winning a silly online war, I am more interested in shaping my life the way I want it to be.
Question 1: What is Life Etc Etc?
Life Etc Etc is an amalgamation of all the positive things which keeps one's life going. In my opinion, life is just not a highlight reel of your achievements. Just as you celebrate the highs, you also have to take the lows and everything in between. When you commemorate significant milestones you also have to remember those days where nothing happened because those silent days not only infuse you with perspective but also forge a will of iron within to turn things around. Similarly when you recount the strides you've made you also have to pay tribute to every person, place and situation which helped you make those forays. No one realizes the essence of life all by themselves, thus my blog is a journal and memoir of all the things which have inspired me to be my best.
Question 2: What makes you think that you are qualified to write about life?
Frankly I don't know if I am qualified to write anything about life but I am certainly as competent as anyone is. I realize I've made a paradoxical statement but let me explain. I know I've said this before but I have had an amazing roller coaster of a life. There have been dizzying highs and there have been deplorable lows. I've had the pleasure of interacting with world champions, Olympic heroes and iconic universal greats. I've also had the misfortune of dealing with meddling personalities who would stink up any joint. The diversity of my experiences has taught me to look within to find the answers. I wasn't shouting from rooftops when the going was great and I didn't lament for attention when things were tough. I've also made it a point to practice before I preach something and anything I write about here is not the stuff of imagination but the fruit of actual experience. So here's my question to all of you, whom would you rather hear from, a superficial know-all who doles out life lessons faster than hot dogs or a fellow life traveler who peels away layers of vanity and prioritizes substance over style.
Question 3: What is your motivation behind writing this blog?
Before I answer that question. Let me back up a bit here, before I wrote my first post I established a framework to guide the quality of my posts. There are four rules to which every post on my blog adheres to:
1. To never use my blog as a vehicle to promote myself: As I said before I have a lot to learn and I don't want to fool myself by creating a pseudo-intellectual persona just to garner a couple of views. There's a whole lot of advice floating around in the social media world, in fact there are more people doling out advice than people who are actually implementing it. We need more doers in this world, people who do things not because it's a popular thing to do but because it's the right thing to do. We also need more people to look within. Change comes from within and change is not an overnight process. One of the reasons why I take my time to write blogs is because I am too busy doing things rather than espousing how things need to be done. Hence the greatest motivation behind writing this blog is for it to serve as my conscience keeper. By recording everything I espouse I am not only refining my vision of life constantly but also rallying myself to live up to everything I say.
2. To never put down anyone using my blog: Life is not easy, there are many days which irk us and there are many people out there who rub us the wrong way. I however do not use my blog to vent or voice my frustrations against life or any individual in particular. This doesn't mean I don't have complaints but instead of wasting my time writing about all the things which didn't go right, I choose to correct them with my focus and hard work. Now there have been some blogs of mine which have dabbled in sarcasm but they were only meant to constructively point out those human behaviors which hinder progress.
3. To respond and not to react: Knee jerk reactions have become the order of the day on social media. Somebody says something which is not in sync with your beliefs and you immediately have to put that person down by collecting all the data in the world. The amount of time and energy which is invested in online arguments can easily be spent in turning one's life around. Why are we all so hell bent on proving a point at the cost of breaking a relationship which has taken years to develop or at the cost of losing out on time which is never going to come back? When common sense recedes from a person, ego takes over and whenever I felt I was writing a blog only to prove a point I stopped writing it altogether. I am not interested in winning a silly online war, I am more interested in shaping my life the way I want it to be.
4. To write something which makes me proud: Life Etc Etc is my baby and one of the goals I set out for myself while writing this blog is for it to reflect my character. Like me, my blogs have to be original, introspective, fresh and ever evolving. I leave it to the readers to rate my blog on all of those aspects but the challenge of putting out something unique every time I publish a blog motivates me to keep blogging.
Thus Life Etc Etc is not just my blog, it's my inner voice which motivates me to be my best at all times. Being my best is not just a social media persona I've cultivated but a value system I adhere to in real life.
I do hope my answers have thrown more light on the intentions and inspirations behind this blog. When I started blogging I though I would be successful if I could reach out and impact at least one person through my thoughts. I have to thank all of you here for making Life Etc Etc your own and for keeping me going with your comments and suggestions. I promise that Life Etc Etc will continue to be the torchbearer for quality articles. We will walk these surreptitious paths of life together and together we shall discover a way to make this life mean something.
Amen!
Until Next Time,
Yours Always,
J.J. Chaitanya
Thus Life Etc Etc is not just my blog, it's my inner voice which motivates me to be my best at all times. Being my best is not just a social media persona I've cultivated but a value system I adhere to in real life.
I do hope my answers have thrown more light on the intentions and inspirations behind this blog. When I started blogging I though I would be successful if I could reach out and impact at least one person through my thoughts. I have to thank all of you here for making Life Etc Etc your own and for keeping me going with your comments and suggestions. I promise that Life Etc Etc will continue to be the torchbearer for quality articles. We will walk these surreptitious paths of life together and together we shall discover a way to make this life mean something.
Amen!
Until Next Time,
Yours Always,
J.J. Chaitanya
Very impressive. Please continue writing this blog. I regularly read your blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your inspiring comments!
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