Strange, Change and Rogue Thoughts

So ready to head out on a journey???? It could be scary because I am letting the inner workings of my mind go rogue today. Not sure what is going to come out....so it will be a surprise for both of us.

I have noticed as I grow older that not only do "strange" and "change" rhyme....but they also seem to walk hand in hand. The world gets stranger and change is happening every second. Profound? Not really. People and things just get strange sometimes. Actions...reactions and the ability to see what we want to see rather than reality seems to be a popular theme. Not wanting to be disagreed with and trying to eliminate or ban those who do....is another one. It is definitely a change. Not all change is necessarily good.

Speaking of strange and change....did you know that strange while it has always meant different, has not always meant different in the modern context? Back when I was young (60's and 70's especially)...homosexuality was a taboo subject. Most of mainstream society knew very little about it, thought very little about it  and when they did....the conversation was had in whispered tones and the word "strange" was used to cover the subject. I remember watching Paul Lynde one time on tv and my mother turning to my dad and whispering...."You know he is strange...right?" I thought she meant the way he dressed or the way he acted because he was a great physical comedian. It wasn't until much later that I understood what the whispering and the word strange were all about. But like everything...change occurred and the word strange was found to be both offensive and inappropriate and therefore the terminology was changed to "gay." And on that same note of strange and change.....gay also used to have another meaning. Probably a more widely remembered and recognized meaning. Gay used to mean happy and joyful. A gay man was a happy man and songs were full of the word gay. When it changed or why it changed I am not sure but it did and now a days if you called a man gay who was not.....you might get punched! So there you have it....strange and change. You still with me?

Now going back to peoples actions and reactions. I have noticed that the more prolific I get with my blogging....the more commenting seems to be happening. Many are public comments at the end of each of my blogs, but a lot of comments come in the form of texts from my friends or email and fb messages. Those that like my blog sometimes choose a private message because they want to tell me a personal story that my blog made them think of or they want to tell me just how much a certain blog meant to them. Those that don't like my blog often want to give me a good piece of their mind privately and tell me how much they disagree or in some cases were offended by my blog. It is amazing how much words can affect people. In fact...friendships have been won and lost over them.

For those of you who have never blogged.....blogging is just journaling through technology. The one thing you must always remember though....by blogging, your words are ALWAYS going to be out there and you never know who will find them. If you are a private person....there are much better ways of expressing your thoughts than in front of literally billions of possible readers. On the other hand....if you are like me and like most writers....blogging is magnificent. Especially if you came from an era where everything was either hand written or written with the use of a temperamental typewriter. In order to get anyone to read your writing....you had to force family and friends or send hundreds of copies out to would be publishers....and even then a forced audience or no audience at all was the usual end game.

If you have a true writers heart...then keeping thoughts, ideas and stories to yourself is not the idea. Sharing them with the world....even if it means doing it for nothing more than the occasional feedback is what we live for. To be quite honest....writers are attention whor....rrrrr....junkies. We live for comments and praise, but more than that.....we live for the comments and reactions that tear us apart. We love those readers who read and then disagree with us, argue with us and basically tell us they hated what we had to say. Strange? There's that word again and of course it is but there is a reason. To read something that makes you feel so compelled as to do any of the above means that what you read caused a passion inside you. It made you think and most of all....it made you feel. Chances are it made you feel to the point that you had to go back and reread the piece more than once and it invoked inside of you.....emotion! I have found that these readers are the ones that come back....again and again. Why? Because I made them feel something. I got their blood boiling and made them think and in thinking they had to come up with thoughts and arguments to disprove what I said or muster enough emotion and words to disagree.

Don't get me wrong. Nothing touches my heart like someone who has read a blog of mine that came from my own heart and it made them feel happy or even sad, because again.....I did my job. I used my words in a way.....that made someone else feel. Knowing I brought someone to tears or even made them so mad that they had to tell me so.....means that my writing evokes strong emotion....and ultimately....that is what every writer wants to do.

I smile when I write a blog and people disagree with me. I have my staunch supporters who often try to defend me and my blog and will even on occasion take up battle against someone who has attempted to disparage me in comments. I have even been asked why I would allow those comments to remain. My answer.....two rules I have about comments. 1) I will never delete a comment unless it is someone viciously attacking another commenter or someone who is spamming or using nothing but vulgarity. It's called freedom of speech and although I may not like what you say or agree with it....I will defend to the death your right to say it. 2) I seldom comment on comments. The only time I will do that is when I feel that something I have said has been taken out of context or completely misunderstood. At that point I will comment to clarify. Other than that.....I try hard to stay out of the comments. I always read them....but comments are my readers jurisdiction....not mine. Occasionally I will also get those readers that I am pretty sure are just trying to use my blog as a catalyst for an argument. Those readers always stand out like a sore thumb as their comments are full of twisted words, imaginary context and baiting verbage. The thing about these readers though....they are usually pretty few and far between, they usually hit up hot button topics and I can tell from the way they word their comments that they have actually read every word I wrote, know exactly what I said and my intent and they not only want to see a comment war....they also want to be the one to start it. They are basically harmless and if ignored move on pretty quickly to some other blog where they can actually get something started. Hey....it's a free country and who am I to tell you that you are making an a$$ out of yourself?

So yeah....strange and change and rogue thoughts. Pretty scar...um...errr....interesting for a Thursday morning. Yeah I know....reading this was 10 minutes of your life you will never get back! Not happy? Tell me about it in the comments! ;)