Thanks for the pointer. I’ll look into it.

ari

Portland Search Engine Marketing Blog

Tyson´s last blog post..SMX Travel and Tourism Expo January 28, 2009

Hey, thanks for reading my extended rant. Indeed, your blog is unlike others — though I’m not sure if I’d put you under self improvement or personal development. It’s more about philosophy and spirituality, isn’t it?

Well, I am aware that people who are not bloggers read our blogs. That’s precisely why I wrote that bit — to remind myself that I’m not writing just for my colleagues, but to the world at large. It’s easy to forget, because commentors are most often other bloggers. I don’t want to churn out contents just for the in-crowd. People who aren’t commenting are probably the ones who I need to reach out to, more.

ari

About the self-development / personal growth blogging community - many more people read the blogs than participate in comments - you can see that by comparing the number of subscribers to the number of comments. I don’t think we are just writing for our own closed circles. I think the whole thing is truly amazing - as you said, there is so much out there that there is enough for everyone, and we can choose our own path.

Robin’s last blog post..Letting Creativity Just Slip In

Welcome to OBV! Thanks for reading my lengthy rant. Glad to hear you got something out of it.

I just checked out your blog — you certainly have a very unique and individualized branding set up there. I admire it greatly — especially since I’m still struggling with mine.

I hear you about trendiness of SI/PD bloggers. As a reader myself, I just long to be engaged, to be drawn into an entry. This can happen in two ways — one is to reveal me something I don’t already know, but this is hard, not because I know a lot already, but like Al’s love song example above, a lot has been already said. The second way is to read something personal. It makes what’s been said seem more real, more relevant, more powerful. Like you said, I think where we need to focus our effort is on our uniqueness, which is built into us, rather than commonality.

ari

Thanks for reading this lengthy rant! I think what we can add to what’s already been said is our personal stories, which is obviously our unique contribution. To expand on the love song example, I think there’s always a way to write a new and fresh love song when you bring in your personal stories. Even if your story is typical and sounds generic, the heartfelt emotion you bring in just because it’s your own story makes it all the more genuine and touching. I myself can’t bring myself to write love songs, but that doesn’t mean that I think love songs shouldn’t be written any more. Just no more generic love songs.
ari

“Remember, nobody else has your point of view. See something that’s hard to see from everywhere else”

To me, this is often the hallmark of a good blog entry. Well said.

I’m not sure we are the leaders of humanity, but it’s a cool and lively sentiment!

What I personally grow tired of is many SI bloggers always agreeing with the current group think of our society in terms of spirituality. There are a lot of new age concepts that many don’t want to question or even criticize. Some of it just isn’t healthy in my opinion. I will not jump on board with many of the concepts that are rehashed over and over again by SI bloggers. Because I don’t agree with it all.

I’ll give you one example where I try to bring spiritual topics to the fore that often aren’t. I recently wrote a post about the importance of being happy for others even if what the other person was blessed with is what we ourselves yearn for! Part of spiritual growth, a big part, is being happy for others - not just thinking about ourselves.

That post: http://punintended.com/blog/being-happy-for-others-something-to-truly-aspire-to/

Indeed, in my blogging quest, I will continue to bring up the topics on spirituality that are sometimes overlooked.

Very well done post. Thanks.

Bamboo Forest’s last blog post..8-8-08

I think it’s awesome that you want to keep things fresh and new, rather than echo the same-old same-olds that tend to happen in the blogosphere.

I like how you brought up the idea of patents. I remember learning that the first director of the US patent office said something to the effect that in a couple of years, there would be no more new ideas and that the patent office may not have any work any more. That quote was about a hundred years ago.

Same can be said about love songs. Who can count how many love songs were created in history? That’s irrelevant, because we’ll always be creating new love songs that sounds fresh and new. As you wrote in your article, it’s about improving and expanding upon what’s already said, but sometimes it’s also about making it relevant to people who still don’t understand the message.

I also do agree with your original premise - let’s not fall into the trap of preaching to the choir!

Al at 7P’s last blog post..The Hero with a Thousand Jobs