Lack of importance ... and why it isn't important

Do you wonder why you live the way you do?


Sometimes I wonder why I blog. It's not like I have anything original to say. Nobody is waiting around with bated breath, just to read my thoughts.

Even my kids (a captive audience if ever one existed) tend to escape behind blank expressions and empty bobble-headed nods as I explain life to them.

Today I stumbled across a blog post titled Dear Fellow Bloggers: Shut Up! I've included an excerpt, which may inspire you to visit and read the whole.

This isn't meant to be cute or quirky or anything other than what I just said.  Fellow bloggers, you and I, we just aren't that special.  To those of you that may have figured out how to make some cash off of it or have achieved some level of fame, I think that’s awesome.  Have at it. You know what though?  You aren't that special either.

I laughed as I read, then sighed. Mike is right. His point is just as true in "real life," too.

Nobody is "that" special,... so necessary to the function of the universe that everything comes to a screeching halt when they have a bad day. Even the world-famous are merely mourned upon their death, and life continues on without hesitation.

So why bother?

This is what I have to contribute. It's small.

So what?

Do I have to have something overwhelmingly amazing before I can offer it to anyone? My kids knew better right from the beginning. You should have seen their early artwork, given as prized gifts (never mind their attempts to help) but they made me smile and helped me get through another day.

Frankly, it's a good thing I don't have astronomical powers to change the world, because then I could mess up your lives big time, thinking I was helping. No. I'm just your average scaredycat, hiding behind the screen with a broken megaphone like the Wizard of Oz.

Wait. Let me adjust my mask and straighten the curtain, for a second.

The thing is, I helped someone yesterday, you know? They told me I did before I thought to ask. And the day before that. And the day before that, too. These incredible moments have been increasing over the years since I first started apologetically offering what I have. It has never been that much. Just an encouraging word, a shift in perspective, an lovely idea. That's all.

They thanked me all the same!

You do this for others every day, touching the lives that intersect with yours. I'm thankful for you because of it, even though your life may never intersect with mine. Because it takes all of us, online and off, to create this world of relationships.

And if I can give one of you the gift of connection, of realizing you're not the only one, of understanding, or of a simple smile. Then it is enough of a reason to blog today and tomorrow, too.

This is why.