I have written about many subjects before, but have hardly ever addressed the lonely path of a blogger - a political blogger.
Not belonging to any political party, group or movement, ideologically cut off from the rest of the "real" world - this can prove to be a lonely place, indeed.
There is a side to you that you hardly ever share with "real" people out there. This side becomes your recluse, your secret corner, to which you withdraw, to find, construct and make meaning...
It is like you live two parallel realities that never meet...it is some form of schizophrenia - or just, well kept secrets...
Most people "out there", are not interested and/or are not on the same wavelength...
You develop two personas - one for "out there", and one for "in here". You begin to wonder after a while, which one is the real one.
Rest assured, both are real.
One skims on the surface "out there", fully aware of the limits of reality...and the other, delves into your own depths - if the case may be - trusting that you will find echo and resonance in the process, "in here", in virtuality.
Those "out there" in reality hardly know the virtual side of you and those "in here" hardly know the "reality" side of you.
But both are you. One is freer to express virtually, the other bends down to the demands of "society" "family" "the other"...toning itself down for the sake of "peace".
3/4 of what you express online, you dare not express in "reality". Unless of course, you belong to some group that backs you or you receive a regular paycheck from some well institutionalized source, organization, movement, party, government or country...
But if you are a loner, the stakes are different...so are the "rewards".
So after doing your thing "out there", you rush back "in here", switch on your machine, and eagerly await for some echo...
You become friends with "similarities"...People who think along the same lines, or are on the same wavelength...
Nothing wrong with that. Everyone seeks similarities. Similarities bond, unite and strengthen...
The only problem is that 9 times out of 10, they are not "out there"...they are just "in here", just like you, "hiding" behind a screen...
In fact, come to think of it - we hide in reality and we hide behind our screens and some of us wonder why change never happens.
Those who dared, are long gone...We remember them on special occasions and write eulogies in their names...
Those who dared, really dared, were silenced by Death.
I guess this path will remain a very lonely one.
