Standing at Mount Kailash's Door, Tablet in Hand

The Art of Living, amongst whom I consider myself a member, has a new project, apparently the purpose of which is to connect bloggers and promote the use of blogging as a tool for social change. This project is called Just Connect. They have an article on how to be an effective blogger, and reading that article inspired me to write this post, where I will answer the question of why I blog.

Maybe I've answered it before, but it bears repeating at this point to ascertain how much progress I've made in this regard. But after much thought, the one thing I've realized about why I blog is that at the most fundamental level, I blog because I crave acceptance - I crave the recognition of others. Not negative recognition, mind you, but positive: love, respect, admiration, adoration, you know the rest.

I know on a rational level that getting the above takes much more effort than just blogging. I also know that it's a risk-to-reward sort of thing...the positive feedback from readers is like pure nectar to me, but negative sentiment can be many times more poisonous. So I know I shouldn't count on blogging to fulfill that base emotional need of acceptance. So why do I do it?

I do it I guess for much the same reason I pray to Lord Ganesha for solace and strength. I know many (but not all) of my readers I'll probably never meet in person, but Hinduism does teach that there's divinity in everyone and everything. I bare my soul to Lord Ganesha in the hopes that he'll express love for me; in much the same way I bare my soul to the world in hopes of gaining its love. I know it's foolish to expect everyone to love me, and I'm not expecting that...but if we can trust God(s) to love us, why can't we trust each other to do the same?

I know I'm being naive in expecting everyone who visits this blog to like it, and like me by extension, but I also hope through this blog that I can learn how to deal with one's adversaries. If someone dislikes this blog, it has the potential to help me reinforce my spirit against real life haters. It's like a vaccine in that sense.

Why do I crave so much recognition? I guess it's because as a child I didn't feel like I was appreciated or loved with sincerity...but that's another topic for another time. I don't expect this blog to be my own personal hug box, but I feel readers can support me in their own way, whether they like this blog or not.