Wednesday, June 16, 2010

blogging retrospective

The blogging world has its own reality which I have gradually been learning over time. There seem to be sub-cultures that have their own unique followings. Some people just like to post pictures of their family and have cute fluffy posts about muffins and kittens. I'm not sure they are what my blogger circle would really be interested in. I've seen some of my favorite blogs grow stagnate yet others continue in their proliferation, often reinventing themselves like our friend Michael R. from "The Psyche of Mikey". I know sometimes it is difficult to be spontaneous or to come up with new ideas to write about as I myself seem to be going through a bit of an uninspired phase, probably because my brain has been a bit fried at work lately or I'm just busy living life. Sometimes I just need to veg out. Okay, I confess I've been distracted by facebook lately, even as I say "I hate it". It is the lazy man's blog, short and sweet and oh so superficial, doesn't take much effort and always receiving immediate gratification. But I digress here because recently Michael has given my blog an award for substantive writing. I guess I do make that effort to be genuine and less motivated by what other people think so it allows me the ability to be real, no excuses, no apologies. So to Michael thank-you.
I've been asked to sum up my philosophy about blogging, my motivation and experience using only five words, so here goes:

IT'S REALLY ABOUT BEING YOURSELF.

Although I wish I could honor the true spirit of the award by passing it on to ten others I'm not sure there are ten other blogs that I follow regularly enough to know their writings and to do them justice. Some of my favorite bloggers have not been that active lately, for various reasons. I guess sometimes life may take precedence at times or for reasons unknown. I guess maybe that is a sign I need to be more active about following other people's blogs and maybe finding some new ones, but that takes time. ( My apologies for flaking out on passing things on. )

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Prejudice

I've begun to collectively realize that as human beings we all possess a certain level of prejudice which we may not even realize at times even exists. Of course there are the obvious ones about race and skin color, but let's not forget religion, both of which wars have been fought over.

Sometimes we inadvertently " out" ourselves with out realizing when we make generalizations regarding certain groups of people. The economically challenged are often part of a disenfranchised group with no voice or power in our society. I'm talking about poor people. They get no respect as Rodney Dangerfield would say. Most of us just treat them like they are invisible.

Developmentally disabled people used to be locked away in asylums, treated like defectives, until Geraldo Rivera published Willowbrook and exposed the way the severely mentally retarded and physically disabled individuals were being treated.

I've heard comments directed at fat people that they should just stop eating or somehow they are just "weak".

I've heard people stereotype Asians and the way they make jokes about their driving abilities.

I've heard people refer to individuals with mental health issues being "crazy". I believe this has more to do with ignorance and fear.

I'm commenting about this right now because I just spent the last five days with my family and close friends and realized how sensitive I have grown about the way people refer to other groups of individuals in such negative ways and I don't even think they are aware sometimes of how they sound. Let me further say that I rail against political correctness so there is a certain level of dissonance I experience regarding the whole thing but have concluded that people's ignorance can sometimes lead them down the wrong path of generalizing.

Are you really aware of what your own prejudices might be?