For nearly a week, I had lost access to a number of entries and could not log in to the Blogger service. This just happened to co-incide with recent misgivings I've had about the very idea of publishing my thoughts to a worldwide audience, and I thought that perhaps, it was time to say goodbye. It wasn't the Blogger technical issues that would have put me off; it's against my nature to give up on something because of a technical issue. But I often wondered whether Irrelevant Opinions was making me a better person in any way. It succeeded in reviving my passion for writing after my many years of engineering studies, but having met that goal, I wondered if there was anything else I wanted from it. I couldn't think of anything.
Strangely, however, I missed it during the brief absence. Even though I will often go over a week without writing anything, I felt like something was missing by the fact that I couldn't write anything here even if I wanted to. In a certain way, this site and the handful of readers had become quite important to me. As someone who only sees his home for only a day or two per month, this site and the loyal readers provided a much needed permanency that my mobile lifestyle lacked.
This site was still collecting statistics during the downtime, and brought up some very interesting results. I typically get around 40-50 unique visitors per day, mostly in Canada, but there are some regular overseas readers as well. My referrers log showed that some of them were actually digging through my site using Google cache and the Wayback machine, salvaging posts that would otherwise have been lost. That dedication amazed me. In addition, I heard a great deal of protest at the idea of closing this down from family, friends, and strangers who find all this irrelevance somewhat relevant.
All that being said, I wouldn't continue only because other people want me to; I would only continue if I want to myself. I haven't fully decided.
I am satisfied with the content I've been able to put out thus far. A lot of other blogs are full of copy/paste work, teenage angst, and general nonsense. I'd like to think that IO is a little different.
Thanks to all my loyal readers thus far. We'll see where things go from here.
If you continue IO, it'll be because of my cerebral influence. No matter what you say to rebuke this claim, you'll be proving me right.
ReplyDeleteIf you discontinue IO, you'll be upsetting several people. Do you want to upset people Faraz bhai? Do you want to see me upset? I would send a photograph.
There's something to be said about being able to write - even if what you write is irrelevant to most people. The act of writing in and of itself is really a form of comfort in a place and time where comfort isn't necessarily readily available.
ReplyDeleteWriting does something to you - makes you confident, makes you think, and makes you aware of certain things you weren't aware of before.
In short, welcome back :)
Shan Abbasi: I'll continue writing. I'll admit, you're partially to blame.
ReplyDeleteSister Asmaa: You're also to blame.
Thanks to both of you. :)
Assalaamu Alaikum :)
ReplyDeleteAww, happy that your blog is up and running!
When it comes to my blog, I like to write about things that I can reflect upon later in life. Certain events that happened and experiences I may have gone through, it all has me thinking and appreciating of what I've been blessed with. A little silliness didn't hurt anyone either hehe
I'm sure whatever you have to write about, it will benefit anyone who reads it, insha'Allah.
Assalaamu'alaykum
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it's back and running, more for your readers' sake than yours... masha'Allah. It would have been a real shame to have lost all those months of writing (Maybe you should back up your work... If not for yourself, then perhaps one day your children can read it, insha'Allah and benefit from their father's thoughts in his youth).
There's nothing quite like sitting down and having a good, enlightening read :). Thanks.
Sister Squeeky: Wa'alaykum assalam. It is always an interesting exercise to go back over your own writing much later. One thing I try to do is avoid editing any writing if my feelings change; I leave the original intact, to know what my feelings were at the time I wrote it, even if they change considerably afterwards. Already, I'm finding things I see differently now than when I wrote them; it's interesting how my understanding has evolved. That'll probably keep me going for a while longer.
ReplyDeleteMy general style is to begin with a personal anecdote, then try to extract some deeper truths or meanings in it. And often, I find the personal anecdotes to be the most amusing things to read later.
Sister Farzeen: Wa'alaykum assalam,
Judging by the rest of your comment, I'll assume you meant "more for your own sake than your readers". I did back up all my posts as text files, and I still have all my comments in my e-mail inbox.
I can't even imagine the idea of my own children reading this stuff. By the time I have children, the whole concept of "blogging" will probably be considered ancient. They'll be wondering, "what, you didn't have holovisions back then? You actually had to type your thoughts so people can read them? Type? With your hands?"
Assalaamu'alaykum
ReplyDeleteActually, I meant more for your readers' sake than your own... since you can still benefit from your own thoughts whereas termination of your blog would deny some people access to those same thoughts and the benefits that they potentially offer.
"The lost art of blogging"..lol.. who knows. I'm still trying to get over the lost art of letter writing.
Wa'alaykum assalam,
ReplyDeleteOops. Well, I suppose if the readers benefit, alhamdolillah. Any good is from Allah, the mistakes are from me.
I have awesome readers, masha-Allah. Many of them are also excellent writers that I benefit from personally. Amid all the nonsense out there on the internet, there's still some good, subhanAllah.