This post could not have come at a more ironic time.
A week after writing a post on the importance of pursuing something simply because it matters to you and not because of the validation that others might offer your work (shameless advertising: https://isaidblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/it-doesnt-have-to-be-big/), I find myself pondering the very thing that I was trying to avoid pondering about: comments, follows, likes, shares, and views – the black hole of social media.
The blog posts I had meant for others to relate to and find meaning in garnered me 0 of all of the above while an introductory post and a (literally) Random plea for suggestions on how I could improve the curation of content on my personal blog got me more hits than they were intended to. Laying awake in bed during one of many insomniac, enthusiasm-charged nights, I had a mental conversation going somewhere along these lines:
Wise, Buddhist, ohm me: This is your personal blog for the documentation of your thoughts and your opinions, it was never started with the intention of being a viral social media figure. This blog is yours to be fulfilled in alone.
Ambitious, strategic me: What’s the point of writing without an audience? It’s like performing a role for an empty theatre. Art is created to be appreciated, to find gratification in. Go big or go home, right?
Safe to say, that conversation went nowhere. I wish I had a sophisticated ending to this but I might just make this an ongoing series for the upcoming weeks as yet, I have found myself completely incapable of rebutting myself.
twentysomething 
The size of your audience doesn’t matter. What’s important is that your audience is listening. And I’m one of ’em 😉💕
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At a certain point, must every artist ask herself:
Write I for the gratification of others, or the fulfillment of the self? This writer believes it not to be mutually exclusive. I do not find sincerity or honor lost in the validation of others upon my work, nor do I place highest executive importance upon it. While the critique of the masses may provide some guideline to a path well traveled, one must also be revolutionary and able to take risk.
One must always be challenging oneself and unafraid of self-change. Unafraid of uttering the words, “I was wrong.”
Challenge. Challenge the norm. Challenge the societal code of conduct. Challenge your beliefs and that of those around you. And most importantly, challenge yourself.
Excuse the grammar. It’s late, and I’ve had one whiskey too many.
Wishing you the best,
A friendly shoulder.
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