I remember back in 2009, I used to be quite active on my blog, making posts almost on a daily basis. It was a time when I also used to read other blogs and interact with their authors. Then there were a couple of people who were just readers - they didn't blog but would read our blogs and reach out. Due to the nature of my intensely personal and confessional writing, I guess it resonated with people who were going through similar phases in their lives. I was in the middle of a divorce at the time and living by myself, trying to start a new life and figure out what I wanted next. I was also severely depressed, though I didn't realise or even understand it until years later. So my writing was largely a reflection of my inner labyrinth. I guess it struck a chord with a few souls who may not have really been likeminded but were nice people nonetheless.
I remember a young man in his mid 20s creating an alias with a new email account just to write to me. But he didn't maintain it for too long and felt comfortable enough to reveal his true identity within our first few exchanges. This was a complete stranger reaching out to me and while I won't go into the details of how things played out - today he is a dear friend and we're still in touch. We text and call each other up often and even catch up over dinner whenever we're visiting each other's cities.
There was another young woman, also in her mid 20s if I remember correctly, who also created an alias to reveal details about a very disturbing relationship that she had just gotten out of. We just exchanged a couple of emails and I didn't hear from her again. Then I figured out that she was actually someone who had already been communicating with me as her real self (the stories matched). I realised it because she continued keeping in touch as herself and confiding in me about a very toxic person that she had just broken up with. The details were exactly the same, but I didn't want to embarrass her so I didn't let on. I just listened and offered whatever advice I felt was best suited given my own knowledge and experience of things at that point of time.
Then I remember the disturbing incident of another blogger who was a regular follower and commenter on my blog. One day, I happened to check her blog and found that she had lifted my posts word-for-word and used it to describe her relationship with her husband who she was madly in love with. Funnily enough, I had actually written about a failed relationship! So not only was she plagiarising, she didn't even understand what she was lifting and trying to pass off as her own.
It's funny how connections are made through writing. While they can be quite enriching for the most part, it's important to understand that these connections needn't necessarily successfully transcend that realm. Thanks to Facebook and other social media platforms, one gets to see different aspects of people's personalities. I remember one of the earlier connections I made mainly through my poetry blog (now defunct). It was perhaps the most special of all and even now, the heady exchanges bring a smile to my face. While we're still in touch, unfortunately I don't agree with this person's world views, which are very apparent on Facebook. I used to not let it bother me initially but now when I see the hints of misogyny and racism, I find myself withdrawing from the friendship.
Ultimately, who does one write for? And how is one read? There's a fine line between staying true to one's expressions and making a universal connect. My writing, I know, can get very myopic and internalised when I am in the cathartic mode. At times it's intentional but sometimes, I actually do try and transcend the personal space of comprehension and fail. Narratives and anecdotes or even fictional stories are easier that way and I think I do a fair job at engaging the reader.
These days I am researching an interesting and also very disturbing personality disorder that I didn't fully comprehend earlier until a personal trigger (from an external source) caused me to delve deeper. Now I am hooked and plan to write a fictional piece based on the experience of people I have been interacting with. Let's see how it goes.
Thank you for reading!
I remember a young man in his mid 20s creating an alias with a new email account just to write to me. But he didn't maintain it for too long and felt comfortable enough to reveal his true identity within our first few exchanges. This was a complete stranger reaching out to me and while I won't go into the details of how things played out - today he is a dear friend and we're still in touch. We text and call each other up often and even catch up over dinner whenever we're visiting each other's cities.
There was another young woman, also in her mid 20s if I remember correctly, who also created an alias to reveal details about a very disturbing relationship that she had just gotten out of. We just exchanged a couple of emails and I didn't hear from her again. Then I figured out that she was actually someone who had already been communicating with me as her real self (the stories matched). I realised it because she continued keeping in touch as herself and confiding in me about a very toxic person that she had just broken up with. The details were exactly the same, but I didn't want to embarrass her so I didn't let on. I just listened and offered whatever advice I felt was best suited given my own knowledge and experience of things at that point of time.
Then I remember the disturbing incident of another blogger who was a regular follower and commenter on my blog. One day, I happened to check her blog and found that she had lifted my posts word-for-word and used it to describe her relationship with her husband who she was madly in love with. Funnily enough, I had actually written about a failed relationship! So not only was she plagiarising, she didn't even understand what she was lifting and trying to pass off as her own.
It's funny how connections are made through writing. While they can be quite enriching for the most part, it's important to understand that these connections needn't necessarily successfully transcend that realm. Thanks to Facebook and other social media platforms, one gets to see different aspects of people's personalities. I remember one of the earlier connections I made mainly through my poetry blog (now defunct). It was perhaps the most special of all and even now, the heady exchanges bring a smile to my face. While we're still in touch, unfortunately I don't agree with this person's world views, which are very apparent on Facebook. I used to not let it bother me initially but now when I see the hints of misogyny and racism, I find myself withdrawing from the friendship.
Ultimately, who does one write for? And how is one read? There's a fine line between staying true to one's expressions and making a universal connect. My writing, I know, can get very myopic and internalised when I am in the cathartic mode. At times it's intentional but sometimes, I actually do try and transcend the personal space of comprehension and fail. Narratives and anecdotes or even fictional stories are easier that way and I think I do a fair job at engaging the reader.
These days I am researching an interesting and also very disturbing personality disorder that I didn't fully comprehend earlier until a personal trigger (from an external source) caused me to delve deeper. Now I am hooked and plan to write a fictional piece based on the experience of people I have been interacting with. Let's see how it goes.
Thank you for reading!
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