Blogosphere Blues

Major Mike

Excerpted from an email to dueler and Mr. Atos...

I am beginning to sense a weariness in the blogosphere…Wretchard, the Anchoress, boghie…and I ponder its cause. It comes to me that there are many.

The continual combating of evil is a wearisome task. Those of us with conscience, recognize that wonton murderers, terrorists, and brutal dictators, steal from life many of its joys. The weariness of battle fatigues us deep into our very bones, and we soon forget about the reason for our struggle, the direness of it consequences, and the black hearts of our enemies. We simply surrender to the mundane task of fighting. Soon, our bone weary bodies begin to disconnect from our minds, and we become the roboton soldiers of protracted war. The joys of living have been wrought out of us, and we are unable to remember the beauty contained in a laugh, or the rejuvenating power of a ray of sunshine. It is our physical surrender to our conscience that prevents us from withdrawing from our struggle, even though our mind seeks the beautiful parts of our existence. We fight until we are consumed, or until our minds are broken and we simply quit the fight and walk away.

Even surrendering and walking away does not provide absolute refuge. Our minds then, cannot find the peace that was previously ever present. It is a condition that we would continually seek, but never be able to find, for our conscience would haunt us on two levels…our knowledge of the necessity to combat evil, combined with the guilt we would feel in leaving our tasks to others, would ingrain a restlessness of conscience that would allow few to enjoy the remainder of their lives. I see, as a warrior who understands the weariness of combat, that relief comes not from ignoring or abandoning the fight, but it only comes through victory.

I think another factor is that the blogoshpere is a written medium, and the careful construction of meaningful and clever prose, in and of itself, is enough to drain even the most talented of writers. The condition is compounded when the stakes are so high, and the topics are grave, and the points to made complex and integrated. It seems that the written media then becomes the ultimate consumer of its creators…absorbing ever increasing amounts of energy, until its authors become weary and they are powerless to continue.

I blame the 24/7 media blitz which immediately turns your last masterpiece into yesterday’s fish wrapper. There are thousands of excellent writers in the blogoshpere whose works deserve to be savored, but their works are swallowed much like an oyster…barely tasted, and quickly forgotten. Excellent writing should be enjoyed for longer periods than the time it takes to open a beer. The constant need to publish, in order to remain relevant, is a task few individuals can keep up with.

Lastly, publishing into the vastness of the blogosphere is like crying out into space…at the very time you have mastered the immense power of the written word, you have launched it into a vastness where it may be lost and unheard. Staring alone, into the endless universe, can sap the strength and will of the stoutest of men.

I have no solutions, but I do have a few suggestions…

Sleep is a weapon…it combats weariness.
Write in teams…Few individuals have the strength to shout into the vast wasteland alone, for very long.
Write for your soul, not your sitemeter.
Believe in the goodness of good…and you will not become weary in the good fight.

In the end, being consumed in the fight is preferable to living under the domination of the evil or misguided. Resolve is the antidote of fatigue. Stay the course. Dig deep. You will eventually "run through" the "wall" and find that you are stronger for the effort.