Dear friend
I don't blog as often as I should. One of my biggest outlets that I used during difficult times, a place to call my own and know that you would be here listening. Slightly judging, frustrated perhaps, but always listening. It's unfortunate that I cut back on this, knowing that it's a healthy expression. At least, I'd like to hope it is.
That is until I decide to go far too personal and pour my heart out, only to regret it later. I've unlisted a lot of my posts for this exact reason - who wants to read the depressed ramblings of someone who is struggling to figure this whole “life” thing out? Not you I suspect, but I could be wrong. Maybe I should re-publicise those posts, maybe they helped you in a small way. Or maybe I'm deluding myself into thinking I'm more important than I am.
One thing that keeps nagging at me though: what if they genuinely do help you, or anyone for that matter? I've come across goldmines of information, obscure stories, strange bits of advice, and odd little pockets of technical knowledge, which could only have happened because a random stranger halfway across the planet decided to put it on their website. I silently thank them for contributing to the global collective body of knowledge that is the Internet and everything on it. What if my posts, in some small way, can be a part of that?
What if my stories, my knowledge, can help a random stranger halfway across the planet? What if I do happen to have a niche and minutely relatable experience that - just for a moment - resonates with someone I've never even met, just as has happened to me? It's a long shot, but it could happen. It could have happened already, who's to say? The only thing for sure is that it most assuredly won't happen if I don't write about it in the first place.
Maybe that's what I should do going forward. Document my story, share my knowledge and experience and choose to believe that somewhere on the planet, in a country I might have never heard of, it resonates with someone in a way that helps them feel a little less alone in this chaotic and scary game of life we all play.
Maybe, just maybe, it'll help you.