Recently while filling out an application for a scholarship for a global volunteering program, I came across the question " If you could remove one thing from the world, what would that be?"
This was a hard one to answer, considering there are so many things in this world, which if not there, world could be so much better and easier to live in. However, before I tell you what I put down my answer as, I would like to tell you how and why I answered it the way I did...and no the answer I put down was nothing extra-ordinary or fancy. In fact most people would call it as the obvious and the cliched answer to the above question. Although a cliche, it still has a lot of resonance in the times we live today.
There are a lot of things that are wrong in this world, but the root cause of all these things can be traced to a common link: poverty. As someone has rightly pointed out "Its all about the money!" and money is what drives this world. Some of the grave problems that our society faces today, whether its corruption, malnourishment in the developing world, , high level of illiteracy, rise in crime, etc are all a result of poverty, regardless if poverty is a direct or indirect cause of these problems. The desperation to earn money and provide basic amenities like shelter, food and clothing for one's family is still the main concern for a majority of people around the world, and although we regard the 21st century as the age of technology and progress, in many ways we are still stuck with a lot of problems that have been there with us since a long time.
I find it interesting how the definition of poverty changes depending on which part of the world you are in, for example, we all know the desperate poverty that has become the face of Africa, but then we also see homeless people right here in New York City, which is another face of poverty in the developed and industrialized world. This decade has also given rise to the new kind of poor, which though may not compare anything to the poor in Africa or the homeless in the big cities, are also finding it hard to make ends meet with massive credit card debts and no savings.
Poverty is what forces families to sell their children into slavery or prostitution and to work in unhealthy and hazardous conditions to be able to send some money back home to their families who have nothing else to fall back on. Poverty is also what forces young and frustrated people towards religious fundamentalism, which gives them a false promise of a better and happier life. It's also what forces kids to drop out of school in order to work, denying them education and healthy childhood. So indeed my answer to the question was poverty, because if I could remove that from the world, most of these problems wouldn't exist.
A lot of us fail to see these problems around us because they don't affect us directly, however I feel that the first step towards effectively dealing with poverty is to become aware about it. Governments around the world are responsible to take effective action against eradicating poverty, but there is only so much that governments can do. We are as much part of the society as the government is, and hence its also our responsibility to become more aware about poverty and related problems that affect people around the world today.
And if you are wondering where to start at, I have a suggestion...you can visit the website of Nicholas D. Kristof, the amazing New York Times journalist, who travels around the world documenting the devastating poverty and its related issues that are widespread in the developing world today....its just the first step you can take to become more aware and perhaps it may inspire you to take some action!
Here is the link to his YouTube channel...take a look at it!
http://www.youtube.com/show?p=iRzC3O3mQ1U&feature=fvsp
Friday, July 9, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Paradox of the Paycheck
Have you ever wondered how the salary for different professions is decided? Why is it the way it is and more importantly who gets to decide? Why is it that an actor or a banker gets paid far more than say someone who who works as a social worker or a teacher?
If you think about it rationally for a second, you may come to the same conclusion that I did...that the wage distribution system has some serious flaws, regardless of which part of the world you happen to be in. I have always wondered why someone who plays an instrumental role in educating children or who contributes significantly to helping the downtrodden and the underprivileged in the society paid far less than someone who perhaps appears on a trashy reality TV show and basically does nothing valuable in terms of constructive development.
My history professor for a human rights class that I took while in college, asked the class to rank professions in a descending order of what they deserve to be paid. I remember that majority of the class agreed that teachers and doctors should be paid the maximum, followed by scientists and engineers. Apart from doctors, which is one profession that probably is paid closest to what it deserves (although some might disagree, since you can debate about the difference in the income for different specialties), most other professional fields are severely underpaid.
And while most students thought that a teaching job should pay as well as an engineering or science related job does, no one thought about the non-profit sector and certainly not about a factory worker. Why should they be paid less than other professions? This brings in the question of whether one should be paid depending on one's skill or depending on the amount of physical labor that one's job entails, therefore in the essence, its skilled labor vs unskilled labor.
Many would claim that skilled labor should definitely be given more importance, that is the reason after all why people go to college or graduate schools and it provides them with something special that others lack. However, that seems absurd because everyone could gain that something special, if only they could afford to go to college in the first place. It is not that they lack the skills that others have, rather the society is structured in such a way that only a few can afford to learn those special skills. More over, do you really think that working at a factory does not require you to have any skills at all? And even if you decide that skilled labor should be paid more, how do you decide which skills deserve a bigger paycheck? The prestige associated with these skills? skills that you stay longer in school for in order to acquire them or skills that simply require more intelligence and brains?
Its hard to answer these questions without taking into account various other social and economic factors, but it sure is interesting to think and be aware about what is the real significance and value of something that is so dear to us...our paycheck of course!
If you think about it rationally for a second, you may come to the same conclusion that I did...that the wage distribution system has some serious flaws, regardless of which part of the world you happen to be in. I have always wondered why someone who plays an instrumental role in educating children or who contributes significantly to helping the downtrodden and the underprivileged in the society paid far less than someone who perhaps appears on a trashy reality TV show and basically does nothing valuable in terms of constructive development.
My history professor for a human rights class that I took while in college, asked the class to rank professions in a descending order of what they deserve to be paid. I remember that majority of the class agreed that teachers and doctors should be paid the maximum, followed by scientists and engineers. Apart from doctors, which is one profession that probably is paid closest to what it deserves (although some might disagree, since you can debate about the difference in the income for different specialties), most other professional fields are severely underpaid.
And while most students thought that a teaching job should pay as well as an engineering or science related job does, no one thought about the non-profit sector and certainly not about a factory worker. Why should they be paid less than other professions? This brings in the question of whether one should be paid depending on one's skill or depending on the amount of physical labor that one's job entails, therefore in the essence, its skilled labor vs unskilled labor.
Many would claim that skilled labor should definitely be given more importance, that is the reason after all why people go to college or graduate schools and it provides them with something special that others lack. However, that seems absurd because everyone could gain that something special, if only they could afford to go to college in the first place. It is not that they lack the skills that others have, rather the society is structured in such a way that only a few can afford to learn those special skills. More over, do you really think that working at a factory does not require you to have any skills at all? And even if you decide that skilled labor should be paid more, how do you decide which skills deserve a bigger paycheck? The prestige associated with these skills? skills that you stay longer in school for in order to acquire them or skills that simply require more intelligence and brains?
Its hard to answer these questions without taking into account various other social and economic factors, but it sure is interesting to think and be aware about what is the real significance and value of something that is so dear to us...our paycheck of course!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
THE REALITY OF FAST-FOOD
I recently finished reading 'The Fast Food Nation' by Eric Schlosser and it has provided me with a different, although an upsetting perspective on fast food. As with most things in life, where nothing appears to be what it actually is, this book gives an insight into the hidden and little known world of the fast food industry, all the way from production of fast food to its distribution and consumption. But before I go ahead with telling you what I learnt from this interesting read, I must mention that I am not against fast food. On the contrary, I enjoy it once in a while just like everyone else does. My aim of writing down my thoughts on fast food is to promote awareness about what goes into the making of the delicious fast food meal and although fast food may be cheap on the menu, its because of the various other costs which the consumers like you and me are not aware of and are deliberately not told about.
The first thing that crossed my mind while reading this book was the appalling way that the cattle and the poultry is treated from the time of it's birth to the point when it's slaughtered. Any rational and logical person would agree with me when I ask that shouldn't we respect the animals who ultimately will be consumed by us as food, a source of nutrition and growth? It is important to realize that these animals are living things as well...just because they can't express their feelings in words does not mean they can't feel anything. Industrializing the way they are kept and grown, with the only aim of slaughtering them to satisfy our food cravings comes across as blatantly inhumane. But wait a minute...why is important for you to know? Well because treating animals like this affects the health of these animals, causing them stress and making them sick. And if you remember, you are the one who will be consuming this meat in the end after all, therefore it's natural that how these animals are treated up to the point when they are slaughtered should concern you.
If you really don't care about the animals, then at least you might think about the fellow human beings who work in the various slaughterhouses across the country, often under horrible working conditions, with little or no workplace safety, meager wages, often no health insurance at a place where they may suffer work-related injuries from carpel-tunnel syndrome to amputation of a limb. Some of these workers perform jobs that may make you want to throw up, and yes although they are not being forced to do it, it is still our responsibility as consumers to ask the meatpacking industry to provide better and safe working conditions for these workers because they play an integral part of the process where meat is handled by them before it ends up as our fast-food meal.
Perhaps, the working conditions of these workers may not interest you either, and so may I take this opportunity to tell you how fast food can directly affect you and your health. Most of the fast food is rich in salt, fats and sugar...a lethal combination which is certainly not good for us. In fact all that workers at a fast food restaurant do is assemble different parts of a meal together, since most of the stuff is frozen when bought. Event the french fries are bought frozen by most fast-food joints, and all that the employees have to do before they serve them to you is to heat them up. No doubt they taste so good right? Obesity, which is soon going to overtake smoking as the number one cause of death, has already become a huge public health concern. And of course you can't and shouldn't blame fast food entirely for people becoming obese, since individual choice and responsibility should also be accounted for, fast food does contribute significantly to obesity because of it's unhealthy composition and also because it is quite addictive, so people want to have it more and more of it.
So while advertisements on TV will never tell you about these hidden issues related to fast food, they definitely misguide you about how fast-food is healthy and present to you a fallacious world of happiness and ever-lasting joy that you get when you eat it. As consumers, it's our responsibility to be aware of the real costs that go into producing the fast food, because while you may only pay a dollar for a value-priced dollar meal, its only because there are others who are paying the real costs so that you can enjoy that delicious super-size meal of a cheese burger and fries.
The first thing that crossed my mind while reading this book was the appalling way that the cattle and the poultry is treated from the time of it's birth to the point when it's slaughtered. Any rational and logical person would agree with me when I ask that shouldn't we respect the animals who ultimately will be consumed by us as food, a source of nutrition and growth? It is important to realize that these animals are living things as well...just because they can't express their feelings in words does not mean they can't feel anything. Industrializing the way they are kept and grown, with the only aim of slaughtering them to satisfy our food cravings comes across as blatantly inhumane. But wait a minute...why is important for you to know? Well because treating animals like this affects the health of these animals, causing them stress and making them sick. And if you remember, you are the one who will be consuming this meat in the end after all, therefore it's natural that how these animals are treated up to the point when they are slaughtered should concern you.
If you really don't care about the animals, then at least you might think about the fellow human beings who work in the various slaughterhouses across the country, often under horrible working conditions, with little or no workplace safety, meager wages, often no health insurance at a place where they may suffer work-related injuries from carpel-tunnel syndrome to amputation of a limb. Some of these workers perform jobs that may make you want to throw up, and yes although they are not being forced to do it, it is still our responsibility as consumers to ask the meatpacking industry to provide better and safe working conditions for these workers because they play an integral part of the process where meat is handled by them before it ends up as our fast-food meal.
Perhaps, the working conditions of these workers may not interest you either, and so may I take this opportunity to tell you how fast food can directly affect you and your health. Most of the fast food is rich in salt, fats and sugar...a lethal combination which is certainly not good for us. In fact all that workers at a fast food restaurant do is assemble different parts of a meal together, since most of the stuff is frozen when bought. Event the french fries are bought frozen by most fast-food joints, and all that the employees have to do before they serve them to you is to heat them up. No doubt they taste so good right? Obesity, which is soon going to overtake smoking as the number one cause of death, has already become a huge public health concern. And of course you can't and shouldn't blame fast food entirely for people becoming obese, since individual choice and responsibility should also be accounted for, fast food does contribute significantly to obesity because of it's unhealthy composition and also because it is quite addictive, so people want to have it more and more of it.
So while advertisements on TV will never tell you about these hidden issues related to fast food, they definitely misguide you about how fast-food is healthy and present to you a fallacious world of happiness and ever-lasting joy that you get when you eat it. As consumers, it's our responsibility to be aware of the real costs that go into producing the fast food, because while you may only pay a dollar for a value-priced dollar meal, its only because there are others who are paying the real costs so that you can enjoy that delicious super-size meal of a cheese burger and fries.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Graduation: A reflection
Yes! You did it!
Hearing these words at the college graduation ceremony recently reminded me of the four long years that I endured in college, that some how now don't seem to be that long after all, and I also wondered that although college graduation is considered to be a milestone in one's life, it probably is just a small step into the 'real' world out there, which you could either embrace or try your best to escape from...depending on what you think is best for you.
It is hard to put in words how I feel as a new college graduate in today's tough economic times. With the initial excitement of finally finishing college and celebrating this achievement with family and friends wearing off, I am tempted to look back and reflect on my thoughts. And the fact that I am doing this at one in the morning says a lot, doesn't it? Well, for starters, it definitely indicates that I don't have to go to work tomorrow morning, or else I would be in bed trying to get a good night's sleep. And this very example should tell you about one of the realities that a new graduate has to face...the job of finding a job!
With the dream of already having a well-paid job right out of college now just a dream for most people, one has to first dedicate his/her time looking for a job. And no matter how good you are, it's stressful and nerve racking to apply for jobs, and then just having to play the waiting game. You may or may not hear back from any of the jobs you applied for, and so you are back at square one and you start the whole ordeal again. Though it would be wrong to say that everyone looks for a job after college, a majority of people do, with only a few on their way to graduate schools or having other envious plans, say going on a world tour!
However, if you do not intend to do the above two things right after college just like I don't, you probably either have a job, are waiting to hear back from one, looking for one or haven't even given any thought to the prospect of looking for one (umm.. job? what's that?). Although, I started to apply for jobs months before graduating, I am still waiting to hear back from some and have had a few interviews and waiting for a reply...but what bothers me is the uncertainty of things right now. What if I don't get a reply from any interviews I have had? What if I have to apply for jobs all over again? What if I end up getting nothing, and have to pack my bags and leave for India? It's hard to keep things in perspective sometimes, and not get pessimistic, especially when I hear about the number of well-qualified people who are unemployed.
It seems like graduating in the 21st century is not hard, but to survive after you graduate and make your way ahead in this ever changing world is what's truly hard and the toughest exam you have to face, tougher than any other kind of exam you ever faced in the four long years you invested in college. And while you get the grade for the college exams within a few weeks, a grade for the exam you face after graduation can some times take years to know...with very few people realizing before hand if they eventually passed or failed.
Hearing these words at the college graduation ceremony recently reminded me of the four long years that I endured in college, that some how now don't seem to be that long after all, and I also wondered that although college graduation is considered to be a milestone in one's life, it probably is just a small step into the 'real' world out there, which you could either embrace or try your best to escape from...depending on what you think is best for you.
It is hard to put in words how I feel as a new college graduate in today's tough economic times. With the initial excitement of finally finishing college and celebrating this achievement with family and friends wearing off, I am tempted to look back and reflect on my thoughts. And the fact that I am doing this at one in the morning says a lot, doesn't it? Well, for starters, it definitely indicates that I don't have to go to work tomorrow morning, or else I would be in bed trying to get a good night's sleep. And this very example should tell you about one of the realities that a new graduate has to face...the job of finding a job!
With the dream of already having a well-paid job right out of college now just a dream for most people, one has to first dedicate his/her time looking for a job. And no matter how good you are, it's stressful and nerve racking to apply for jobs, and then just having to play the waiting game. You may or may not hear back from any of the jobs you applied for, and so you are back at square one and you start the whole ordeal again. Though it would be wrong to say that everyone looks for a job after college, a majority of people do, with only a few on their way to graduate schools or having other envious plans, say going on a world tour!
However, if you do not intend to do the above two things right after college just like I don't, you probably either have a job, are waiting to hear back from one, looking for one or haven't even given any thought to the prospect of looking for one (umm.. job? what's that?). Although, I started to apply for jobs months before graduating, I am still waiting to hear back from some and have had a few interviews and waiting for a reply...but what bothers me is the uncertainty of things right now. What if I don't get a reply from any interviews I have had? What if I have to apply for jobs all over again? What if I end up getting nothing, and have to pack my bags and leave for India? It's hard to keep things in perspective sometimes, and not get pessimistic, especially when I hear about the number of well-qualified people who are unemployed.
It seems like graduating in the 21st century is not hard, but to survive after you graduate and make your way ahead in this ever changing world is what's truly hard and the toughest exam you have to face, tougher than any other kind of exam you ever faced in the four long years you invested in college. And while you get the grade for the college exams within a few weeks, a grade for the exam you face after graduation can some times take years to know...with very few people realizing before hand if they eventually passed or failed.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Deep conversations a way to happiness?
I recently read an article in the NY times about a new research that claims that people who have deeper conversations about things tend to be more happy than people who just engage in small talk. The research, conducted at University of Arizona, found that people who talked about stuff like current affairs, philosophy and religion seemed to be far happier than people who talked about weather, a t.v show or other random stuff.
I couldn't agree more. Deep and meaningful conversations definitely help you to enrich yourself both intellectually as well as emotionally...they help you to think analytically and question, which is something that small talk does not offer. So while just telling someone about a TV show or a movie may not be meaningful, analyzing it critically may help you realize something more than just whether you liked it or not.
However, as most people pointed out about this article, its very hard to engage in a meaningful conversation with people around us...with the instant technology like Twitter and Facebook, where the number of characters you can use to say something is limited, a deep conversation is almost impossible. Instead, instant status updates regarding what one is doing, wearing or even smoking have become the norm. Also, I think that you can not have such conversations with everyone...rather its limited to people who share similar interests as you do and also like talking about them. From my own experience, there are not many people who like engaging in such deep discussions, either because they don't have time or they just are not interested.
Personally, deep and meaningful conversations for me, have been very enriching. I have learnt a lot about new and different things, and more importantly learnt to question which I did not do before. They have always made me happy and eager to learn more. Though happiness is subjective and everyone can define it for themselves, if you know or have someone in your life with whom you can have such conversations, it's definitely worth it.
I couldn't agree more. Deep and meaningful conversations definitely help you to enrich yourself both intellectually as well as emotionally...they help you to think analytically and question, which is something that small talk does not offer. So while just telling someone about a TV show or a movie may not be meaningful, analyzing it critically may help you realize something more than just whether you liked it or not.
However, as most people pointed out about this article, its very hard to engage in a meaningful conversation with people around us...with the instant technology like Twitter and Facebook, where the number of characters you can use to say something is limited, a deep conversation is almost impossible. Instead, instant status updates regarding what one is doing, wearing or even smoking have become the norm. Also, I think that you can not have such conversations with everyone...rather its limited to people who share similar interests as you do and also like talking about them. From my own experience, there are not many people who like engaging in such deep discussions, either because they don't have time or they just are not interested.
Personally, deep and meaningful conversations for me, have been very enriching. I have learnt a lot about new and different things, and more importantly learnt to question which I did not do before. They have always made me happy and eager to learn more. Though happiness is subjective and everyone can define it for themselves, if you know or have someone in your life with whom you can have such conversations, it's definitely worth it.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
The other night while going back home on the subway, I came across a woman preaching about God. Of course, this is not something unusual in new york city, but what struck me was the determination with which she was saying the following-
"If there is something or someone you really want in this world, just pray to God with all your faith, and you'll get it!"
Though I normally just ignore such "on the go" and "forced to hear" preachings, for some reason I paused my i-pod that I was listening to and started to listen to what she was saying. All though there was a lot of other stuff she had to say about God, somehow the above line just stood out to me. I repeated that line in my head and thought...."well if only that could be true...life could be so much better." And no obviously, my mind didn't stop there...I was tempted to ask that lady two questions-
"If there is something or someone you really want in this world, just pray to God with all your faith, and you'll get it!"
Though I normally just ignore such "on the go" and "forced to hear" preachings, for some reason I paused my i-pod that I was listening to and started to listen to what she was saying. All though there was a lot of other stuff she had to say about God, somehow the above line just stood out to me. I repeated that line in my head and thought...."well if only that could be true...life could be so much better." And no obviously, my mind didn't stop there...I was tempted to ask that lady two questions-
- How much should you want that something/someone?
- How much faith would it take to get that something/someone?
Well, I did not ask her the above questions....I didn't want to mock her belief...maybe it was this belief that was helping her to make it through whatever it was that she was battling in life. But it sure made me think...what if she never gets what she really wants? What if her faith isn't enough to give her what she wants? Is God going to sidetrack her and fulfill some other person's wish?
Some people would argue that hope is very important, it keeps you going. And faith is what gives you hope. But what if you do not have either one? And even if you have both, is there some way you could measure that faith that would help you to know how long it would take you to finally get that something and someone that you have always wished for? Apparently not...we all choose to close our eyes, cross our fingers, hope and have faith that everything would be just right.
Sometimes however, I think faith and hope can't help you either, that something and someone just seems like a distant reality. Maybe it was the same for this woman, but she still decided to go out and preach what may never come true for her.
Now that takes a lot of faith....doesn't it? Amen.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Books
If I am ever asked to list some of the most precious things in this world to me, books would definitely be somewhere on the top . I have always enjoyed reading, and though what I read now is vastly different from what I read back in school, my love for books has been the same, in fact increased even more. However, it upsets me to see that in today's world books are losing their relevance. I was surprised to hear on news last night about a city in Texas, which is soon going to be without any bookstores! It made me wonder if we were heading to a future where we may not find books anymore? That's scary! I am however, not against new innovations like kindle or nook, but personally I wouldn't buy them because I think holding a book in my hand feels much better than holding a kindle...and I would definitely want to build a small library in my home sometime in the future.
People always like reading books on things that interest them...and no there is nothing wrong in doing that. But I think an even better or challenging thing to do is to read a book on something that you may not pick up at a bookstore as your first choice. Though you may not like it, you will end up learning something new and getting an entirely new perspective. I have done this before, and I have always learnt something new...it definitely opens up your mind about different and new things.
I recently read a book that I have been thinking about...its called ' The God Delusion' by the British biologist Richard Dawkins. The most amazing thing about this book is that even though you may not agree with what he has to say, it sure compels you to think about it. Religion is a very sensitive issue for people and this is what exactly the book questions so openly. It asks poignant and extremely debatable questions about if we really need God to answer how the world began? He makes an argument, and a pretty convincing one at that, on why Science needs to be looked at as a more reliable source to answer the questions on origin of life. He questions the system of organized religion and why it may not be the best inventions that mankind has to offer. To make it clear...he in no way intends to offend anyone for their personal religious views, but merely puts forward a question and tries to answer it with the support of scientific eveidence.
I finished reading this book a while ago and it has made me question a lot of things pertaining to religion and the need for it in my life. Some of the things in the book have deeply influenced me...and I definitely have a lot more to say about it. But that is for my next blog...and until then if you have read this book and have opinions about it, feel free to write them down here. You may also write down your thoughts on religion in general since it's always interesting to know different viewpoints.
And remember...keep reading!
People always like reading books on things that interest them...and no there is nothing wrong in doing that. But I think an even better or challenging thing to do is to read a book on something that you may not pick up at a bookstore as your first choice. Though you may not like it, you will end up learning something new and getting an entirely new perspective. I have done this before, and I have always learnt something new...it definitely opens up your mind about different and new things.
I recently read a book that I have been thinking about...its called ' The God Delusion' by the British biologist Richard Dawkins. The most amazing thing about this book is that even though you may not agree with what he has to say, it sure compels you to think about it. Religion is a very sensitive issue for people and this is what exactly the book questions so openly. It asks poignant and extremely debatable questions about if we really need God to answer how the world began? He makes an argument, and a pretty convincing one at that, on why Science needs to be looked at as a more reliable source to answer the questions on origin of life. He questions the system of organized religion and why it may not be the best inventions that mankind has to offer. To make it clear...he in no way intends to offend anyone for their personal religious views, but merely puts forward a question and tries to answer it with the support of scientific eveidence.
I finished reading this book a while ago and it has made me question a lot of things pertaining to religion and the need for it in my life. Some of the things in the book have deeply influenced me...and I definitely have a lot more to say about it. But that is for my next blog...and until then if you have read this book and have opinions about it, feel free to write them down here. You may also write down your thoughts on religion in general since it's always interesting to know different viewpoints.
And remember...keep reading!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Blog and about
Hello all...
I was unaware of the fact that starting a blog needed much time and effort. From deciding on a name for the blog, to what you plan to write about, to even deciding a background for the blog post, it indeed is an arduous task. I had been planning to start one for sometime now...however I was always met by the question of what to write about? There has been an overload of blogs on everything, from something as serious as world economy to something as insignificant as the neighborhood dog. Blogging has brought out the hidden writer in everyone, though as many would argue, not the best thing to do for some.
So you may wonder what this blog is all about? Well, if you are looking to read about some midnight adventures or wild night outs, you are at the wrong place. I think there are already a lot of people out there blogging about all that stuff, and I won't deny that they dont make for an interesting read, but that's all they do! They are interesting to read but they also cause self pity because often one regrets on not having a happening and glamorous life like that. And I say this from my own experience.
I think a blog can help you with more than that. I have been asked before: "so what are you passionate about?" My answer? Well, on a good day it may be "I dont know" and on a bad day just a blank. Someone once told me that there is a difference in liking something and being passionate about something...so you may like a lot of things in life, but you can only be passionate about a few. This is what I intend to self-learn from my blog...to know what is it I am passionate about. What is it that I wouldn't regret doing for the rest of my life?
And while I am not anywhere close to finding the answers...I am interested in knowing if you have your own anwers to these questions. If you are reading this blog...feel free to comment and pen down your thoughts. But please refrain from being rude and mean...becasue we all are capable of respecting eachother's opinions.
I was unaware of the fact that starting a blog needed much time and effort. From deciding on a name for the blog, to what you plan to write about, to even deciding a background for the blog post, it indeed is an arduous task. I had been planning to start one for sometime now...however I was always met by the question of what to write about? There has been an overload of blogs on everything, from something as serious as world economy to something as insignificant as the neighborhood dog. Blogging has brought out the hidden writer in everyone, though as many would argue, not the best thing to do for some.
So you may wonder what this blog is all about? Well, if you are looking to read about some midnight adventures or wild night outs, you are at the wrong place. I think there are already a lot of people out there blogging about all that stuff, and I won't deny that they dont make for an interesting read, but that's all they do! They are interesting to read but they also cause self pity because often one regrets on not having a happening and glamorous life like that. And I say this from my own experience.
I think a blog can help you with more than that. I have been asked before: "so what are you passionate about?" My answer? Well, on a good day it may be "I dont know" and on a bad day just a blank. Someone once told me that there is a difference in liking something and being passionate about something...so you may like a lot of things in life, but you can only be passionate about a few. This is what I intend to self-learn from my blog...to know what is it I am passionate about. What is it that I wouldn't regret doing for the rest of my life?
And while I am not anywhere close to finding the answers...I am interested in knowing if you have your own anwers to these questions. If you are reading this blog...feel free to comment and pen down your thoughts. But please refrain from being rude and mean...becasue we all are capable of respecting eachother's opinions.
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