A post
I was typing the words "a post" on my phone and missed the space so predictive text, understandably, suggested "apostle" as what I might have been going for.
To keep to a religious theme (and not wishing to appear blasphemous with any of this) I had an epiphany of sorts. I instantly thought there should be a connection between the two but, in order to find it, needed to clarify what an apostle was.
The obvious answer is "the original 12 chosen by Christ" but others who came after were also referred to as apostles, so what does it actually mean?
The word itself means "one who is sent out" and they were chosen to be messengers, to spread the Word. In today's religious parlance the closest thing would be missionary or, perhaps, evangelist.
Now, evangelist is used in a much wider sense meaning someone who is an enthusiastic advocate of something, someone who is imparting a message with a view to changing the attitude or behaviour of others.
Many bloggers call or consider themselves evangelists in the modern sense but, maybe, we need to reconnect with the more traditional meaning. Not necessarily in a religious way but certainly in a more personally spiritual one.
I then thought about what a post is or, rather, what it could or should be and came to the conclusion that it ought be a message and those writing them should be more akin to missionaries. That's not to say every post but the position is worthy of consideration.
I've written before about wanting what I do to mean something, and I'm not entirely sure I've managed to explain all this as effectively as I'd like, but I think that should be the aim with blogging.
A message doesn't have to be long but it should have meaning and be passed on with passion. Too many words are wasted on the internet, shared just for the sake of sharing when they should be "sent out" with a purpose.
Love this. I think I try to do this, too, but I think it explains why I have settled into a groove in which there’s nothing in between a tweet or two and a 2,000+-word blog post that gestates for months. But thank you, you’ve permanently entangled these meanings with the word “post” for me, and I love the weight it adds to the consideration.
@colinwalker Really enjoyed this post. I hadn't thought about it exactly that way, but it does fit how I often approach blogging.
@manton Thanks. It just struck me when I made the typo.
Thanks Jon. It probably wasn't quite as eloquent as I'd hoped but I think I got the message across.
@colinwalker FWIW. write.as/bix/a-mes...
Both the word missionary and evangelist have negative connotation to me. Images of white Europeans murdering and maiming non-Europeans and non-Christians come to mind.
Sorry to hear that Khürt but hopefully the idea still comes across. It's an illustration that even the most well meaning concepts can be twisted by the corrupt few.
In response to "A post" Bix says that he is "learning to not waste too much of my cognitive or emotional capacity" on wondering if his posts are being read so, in a sense, they actually are being shared for the sake of sharing. I think that's over-simplifying it. Posts can have meaning and purpose even if there is no audience, it's all down to the intent of the author. If they do happen to land "with someone in some useful way" then that's a bonus. There is a difference between worrying about whether you are being read and worrying about what you are saying. There is a difference between idly wasting words and posting when you "simply can't know what, if anything, happens to them after they've been shared." There must be a underlying reason why someone writes a blog rather than senselessly throwing the literary equivalent of faeces at social networks. If something, whatever that may be, prompts someone to show up every day, even with an uncertain audience, then that's the passion, that's what drives the message.
@bix Thanks. And my response.
@colinwalker This post is a great reminder of how much I’d missed seeing your bits of wisdom in the mornings this past year, and it draws a useful line between blogging and tweeting/whatever.
Thank you sir, I am humbled.
That’s the challenge of language. Even words like “crunchy” can be used as a pejorative or to describe my toast. ?
“A message doesn’t have to be long but it should have meaning and be passed on with passion,” writes Colin Walker (via Manton Reece), pondering bloggers as apostles, evangelists, or missionaries. “Too many words are wasted on the internet, shared just for the sake of sharing when they should be ‘sent out’ with a purpose.” When I say that I just can’t worry about whether or not I’m being read, it doesn’t mean I don’t hope so, or that something, anything, really, that I’ve said lands with someone in some useful way. It’s just that, whatever my purpose is, whatever a potential reader’s purpose might be, I’m slowly learning to not waste too much of my cognitive or emotional capacity on the wondering about it. So, really, in a sense, my messages in fact are “shared just for the sake of sharing”, because I simply can’t know what, if anything, happens to them after they’ve been shared. It’s all just muttering into the void, at least on platforms that eschew (whether by development priority or design) the obvious or traditional forms of reaction and response.
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