Metablogging: September 2005 Archives

Yesterday was the first day in a while that I had heard nothing from anyone and I was puzzled. Normally in the course of a day I hear something--generally over the pieces of fluff that I include, or perhaps a dissenting voice to one of my more strident opinions, so this silence intrigued me.

I went over the posts from yesterday and the day before and realized that I am once again entering the silence. That, in itself, is very encouraging because I have felt long excluded from it and it seems I can approach somewhat closer now.

But really, you can talk among yourselves. Too much silence too suddenly is disconcerting. One wonders where the readers have gone. (I don't have stats that are dynamically updated, so I've no way of knowing whether people still stop by on days when nothing is said.)

I shouldn't even publish this, but I will because I've adopted a version of Mark Shea's motto--"that no idiotic stray thought go unrecorded."

These were appended to the post below, but they did not really belong.

I know you all tire of hearing the same broken record. But that broken record is part of what this blog is all about. In fact, one might say that my purpose in writing is to discover for myself the contours of what is meant by detachment and how one cultivates the right attitude so that detachment is not the same effort as it is when one starts walking the road of prayer. I daresay the majority of people I have met could benefit from small lessons in what is needful and what is desired. Even if others cannot benefit so much as I do, the lessons of this blog are intended chiefly for the audience of its author. If others benefit by that sharing, I couldn't be more pleased. But I do write to know and to explore and my writing is an invitation to everyone who reads to accompany me on the exploration. We will occasionally stumble down dead-end paths, but we'll all learn something in the process. I know over the course of this blog I have learned a tremendous amount and have wandered down countless blind alleys. As a result, I have a much keener estimate of my own abilities and failings, and for that self-knowledge I am much obliged to those who have seen fit to comment, correct, and advise.

Given how many times I've started to make a comment and ended up deleting what I was writing, I'd really be interested in a counter that showed me how many started and how many completed. I wonder if there are a bunch of us out there who start to comment on all sorts of things we have no real business commenting on, come to our senses, and delete our comments. What would be even more interesting is a survey window that pops up when you cancel out a comment and asks you "Why did you decided not to comment?" My number 1 answer is "I was being a pretentious, self-important idiot and felt that I had already reached my limit on that for the week( month/year/lifetime)"

Given how many times I've started to make a comment and ended up deleting what I was writing, I'd really be interested in a counter that showed me how many started and how many completed. I wonder if there are a bunch of us out there who start to comment on all sorts of things we have no real business commenting on, come to our senses, and delete our comments. Don't know, but it would be interesting to find out.