Do lines change lives?
Will words ever move in or shuffle out
to brighten moments? Or will they obey logic
to make unbiased decisions?
Do lines change lives?

Is it correct to use the word ‘do’ in the above lines… or will it be more appropriate to have used the word ‘can’? Both ways the onus would have been on mere lines. Lines that have words. Words. Yes, words are powerful.

Yes, words weave whatever magic there is, has been, or will ever be in this world. Words coax meaning into relationships, words give a form to notions, words connect the immovable lying at great distances, and words justify action as well as inaction. Words are connected to both life as well as lifelessness.

However, even words need to be woven intricately and subtly and with conviction. Words need to have their own families and move around in sentences. Words need their families of sentences to have communities called articles or stories or poems or, as most of the net-savvy world will call, blog posts. Words need to let their families go out in the big wide world to celebrate by being read… and this happens fastest through blogging.

Words are what move into our lives sometimes travelling great distances. Words can form opinions and change ideas… but what about the one who has actually facilitated this merger of words into sentences and then into blog posts? Do words change this person? Or is it that this person, who we call a blogger, remains unchanged and impassive and just involved in his business of wanting to see some change near and far away?

Specky read these paragraphs carefully, motioning me to wait for a while… and then she appeared to re-read them, think, and then with an imperceptible nod and an audible sigh she said, ‘When you write something that is powerful enough to bring about a change, you too change.’

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘Change is what happens on all sides and even the bringer of change changes. Even change changes. Moments change every moment.’

‘But is it blogging that brings about a change or is it the process of writing that plays with change?’

‘Writing is the power tool,’ I replied, ‘blogging is the vehicle that transfers the intent to change. It spreads it far and wide and this is what is as important as the change itself.’

She thought for a while and said, ‘Hmmm… so blogging actually helps change move faster and further.’

Well, this part of the mystique surrounding change was fast agreed by the two of us. Her next observation came at me rather suddenly. She asked, ‘We’ve been married for more than twenty-five years now and you’ve been writing all this while. You still appear the same to me.’

I was foxed. I thought for a while, searched for some quotes on ‘change’ and stumbled upon this one by C. S. Lewis:

‘It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.’

Specky read the quote and turned to me with an expression that was overflowing with questions. I told her that blogging is like the environment around an egg… it has the power to convert it into a bird. ‘Or a boiled egg that can be eaten with a pinch of salt!’ she remarked.

‘Yes,’ I said, ‘even this is a possibility. Change is what is present in both situations. Even an egg going bad is a change, but then this is one change that none of us wishes for.’

I told her that blogging had changed me too. Specky thought for a while, nodded in agreement, and said, ‘Well, yes, I see you have become more regular in your writing. This is one positive change that blogging has brought in. Before blogging came into your life, you were writing rather sporadically.’

She suddenly started laughing out loud and then added, ‘You’ve even begun to win a few prizes now!’

I said, ‘Well, this is one change that I have really liked. Yes, blogging certainly has given me a few prizes, made me look at travel in a different and more analytical way, pushed me into going deeper into strange subjects to research and then write with a lot more emphasis.’

‘Come on,’ said Specky, ‘it is blogging that has catapulted you from a lover of gadgets to the Samsung brand ambassador. You’ve travelled to Seoul and then to Sydney because of prizes won by your blog posts.’

‘Yes, yes,’ I interjected, as this was making me restless, ‘we’ve just completed our wonderful trip to Spiti because of another prize won by a blog post that I wrote.’ Specky then waved her smartphone, indicating that all the smartphones in our house were won by blog posts.

‘But more than these prizes,’ I said, ‘what I like is that I have grown my list of friends, added topics on which I wrote, created a new love for exploring new thoughts and ideas, and developed my own style of writing.’

‘You’ve changed and yet remained the same,’ said Specky suddenly, ‘and I think this is because blogging changes not only the one who blogs but also the ones who are around that blogger.’

‘Ah!’ I said, ‘so we’re all changing each other.’

Yes, the magic of blogging is that I change myself and change others through my writing… and, in turn, get changed again by other blogs because bloggers don’t just write but also read other blog posts just as much.

 

Blogging changes perspectives!

Blogging changes perspectives!

Post written to get a chance to win a free ticket, accommodation with the speakers, and an opportunity to speak at WordCamp Mumbai 2012

 

Arvind Passey
16 October 2012