Much Ado About Blogging

I found this blog from my friend Ted Reyes' website. It talks about how Emily Gould, a blogging celebrity, was given 10 pages to blog about her life by the NY TIMES on their website . Ted entitled his blog as "A Record of One's Existence".

Ted's blog reminded me of two movies that I recently saw on HBO: 300 and Meet Joe Black. Both movies, as you know involves death (the death of the 299 Spartans in 300 and the death of Bill Parish played by Anthony Hopkins in Meet Joe Black). In both movies, the lead characters, knowing their impending deaths, wanted to leave a legacy to the people that they will be leaving behind. King Leonidas sent Dilio, one of his warriors, back to Sparta so that he could tell the story of the 300 (299 because Dilio lived to tell the tale) who willingly sacrificed their lives for their countrymen. Bill Parish who is a media mogul, changed his mind with a merger that his board was working on because he wanted to leave a legacy behind.

I've actually thought of blogging because I wanted to share my thoughts to people who are willing to listen. I also thought to myself "what would Sophie say if she read my blog years from now?". Of course, I want her to read my blog so that she'll know how I felt at a particular moment of my life. Its kind of eerie to talk about but I also think that blogging is one way of leaving a legacy behind for the people who know you and for other people who are just there to listen to your story.

I've been thinking about the word "legacy" since I read (some parts) of the book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey. In the beginning book, the author said "begin with the end in mind". This means that you have to have a perception of your own life; how you would like to be remembered; how people will describe you in your eulogy. This in itself is a legacy. The way people remember you is a testament to the life that you have lived. I always have that in mind whenever I interact with people, be it personal, business or whatever.

Blogging takes the word "legacy" to a different level. People who know you will not be the only ones who'll remember you, potentially, the whole world will get to know you, long after you're gone. People who you don't even know will know you as a person inside and out. Its very difficult to put your heart on your sleeve. That's one of the reasons why I started blogging this late. I always thought about it, but I never came to grips with it 'till now. That's why I admire people who blog. Bloggers are brave enough to say "this is who I am" to everyone.

Everyone wants their story to be heard. Everyone wants to leave a mark in the world. Everyone wants to be remembered. Blogging is our way of telling the world that we exist.

Wouldn't it be cool to know what John Lennon was thinking about when he wrote a particular song? It would've been possible if blogging was available back then. We wouldn't have to read it on a book or some magazine that interviewed him. We would have heard it (or read) from the horse's mouth.

*** Thanks for the nice read Ted. It inspired me to write this blog.Just putting in my 2 cents worth :-)