The Hermit Blogger

If you look around, you'll notice that there aren't a lot of comments around these parts. There's a reason for that: no one reads this blog. Not that this is peculiar, mind you, what's peculiar is when a blog actually does have an audience. 

There are a few perks to being a blogging hermit: I can say pretty much whatever is on my mind with the understanding that I will never have to defend it, I can post on a variety of topics that have no common thread among each other, and I can post on matters of public and private interest with no regard for the distinction between the two. Of course, though, the very fact that I'm a blogger instead of a diary-keeper implies that I want my thoughts to be read by other people.

And I do. I do want people to read them – not to such an extent that I'm actually willing to go out and advertise – but to such an extent that I occasionally sit here and look at my blog and contemplate the fact that I'm missing out on one of the most critical factors in trying to be any kind of a thinker: the critic. As it stands I can post udder idiocy, and no one will point it out. I do not even have anyone to point out that “udder” refers to mammalian mammary glands whereas I meant to use the word “utter” in the previous sentence. I lack the gaze of other people as additional reference points to judge the quality of my logic and thought processes.

Some days I prefer this. Sometimes I want to be able to post whatever I am thinking about without regard for quality or concerning myself with writing in a way that's suited for public consumption. This is, first and foremost, a place for me to develop my thoughts. And solitude is important for the development of thoughts, otherwise you run the risk of having all your fetal original thoughts aborted by bloodthirsty critics. But once the thoughts are developed, you can only measure their worth by letting critics try to chop them up. Therefore, this is information I cannot acquire.

For the time being, I think I prefer my isolated little corner of the web. Eventually, though, I need some thoughts to fight for their survival – or I'll never know if they have the tenacity needed for anyone to rely on them at all.