my corner

Hello! This is my personal blog. I’ve always been someone who enjoys writing. I’ve filled notebooks since I could hold a pen. I actually had a personal blog when I was in the third grade. But as time has passed, my writings are few and far in between. When I am forced to write, whether it’s for school or work, I default to my close friend, Chat. In the process, I am slowly losing my capacity for creativity and critical thinking, and it is making me sick to my stomach!

I’m sure this is a fair justification, but why a blog? Can’t I write privately? Of course I can. I do write privately, and I will continue to do so. The creation of a public blog achieves another purpose. I’ve been thinking lately that there is a lack of tangible evidence of my persona. That seems a bit confusing, but in essence, twenty years from now, how will anyone know that I existed? I think what I’m getting at here is the idea of a legacy. Some people create a legacy through their families, others through their careers. These two options are not in my near future; I don’t know if I’ll have a family, and I don’t know if I will have a notable career with worthy or memorable contributions. But moreover, these ideas of legacies don’t actually get across who I am as a person. People might remember my personality or our memories, but eventually they’ll die. I like the idea of a blog. It’s my own voice, so my own controlled narrative. I have complete freedom of what I choose to write about, so it’s a perfect representation of who I am. There is no social pressure like there is with something like an Instagram account, and the medium of words is ideal to me. There are other components about this blog that excite me. Not only is it my tangible persona, but it is an organized compilation of the things I like or think are cool. It will be easier for me to keep track of the topics that interest me, and follow my own progress/knowledge. I also get to design a site, which will be fun.

That answers why I’ve created this blog, but this leaves the question, what will this blog consist of? I’ve already touched on it, but the answer is: whatever I want! What I’m currently imagining are categories on topics that interest me (religion, science, philosophy, etc.), book reviews, media/news, and one on my personal life. These are subject to change.

Finally, I want to address my goals for this site. I don’t expect anyone to ever read it (despite it supposedly being my legacy), so what do I want to get out of this? There are a few things:

• Living in creation, not consumption: I basically want to stop being the consumer of content, and actually create on my own. I think by consuming the ideas of everyone else around me constantly, I’ve deteriorated my own skills for original thought. I’m hoping to work the muscle of conjuring my own ideas. It’s become a habit that if I’m confronted with a question or conversation, my first instinct is to see what Chat thinks, or search up related topics online. I want to be able to think critically and apply my own thoughts. I think that over time, if I continue to create original content, I will get better at this.
• Building consistency: I haven’t started something that I have stuck with in a very long time. The only thing I am consistent with is my inconsistency. Doing something consistently not only develops discipline, but it also develops a sense of trust and confidence internally. It is the act of making a promise to yourself, and then keeping it. If I am able to consistently write on this blog, I will begin to trust myself (and hopefully like myself a bit more as well). For the sake of measurability, I’ll set a goal for one post per week.
• Gaining depth in my own knowledge: In the 21st century where technology constantly works to make our daily processes more quick and efficient, we’ve developed a culture that prioritises speed above all. Time is money, and it is finite, despite our infinite tasks. It’s led to the era of summarisation. We consume short form content, through TikToks and Tweets, and through this content, we perceive that we have a strong understanding of whatever topic was just explained in under 30 seconds. And while it enables us to mention a few stats or recount a quick story to our friends and families, it’s impossible to comprehensively understand a topic unless you read about it. I am insanely guilty of this, and it bothers me so much that I don’t seem to have a deep understanding of anything. I know surface level information about a lot of things, but I don’t think I would stand a chance in a conversation with an expert. My intention is that by forcing myself to write a few articles, I’ll simply have to gain a strong understanding on whatever I’m writing about. I’ll have to use multiple sources and synthesize information, so I’m aiming to develop deeper levels of knowledge on the ideas I’m interested in.

This about covers my purpose and intentions with this blog. If anyone stumbles on it, hi! I hope you like it! I’ll see you again soon.