Why it's good to talk about yourself!

Hi everyone,

I was listening to ABC PM on the drive home last night and had an insight that I thought was rather good.

I was thinking how much modern commentary is based on things other people have to do. For one thing, how many things do you hear people say that boil(ed) down to "Bush's fault" or "dang it Obama"?  Even reader comments on a fairly mundane technical issue like declining groundwater stocks becomes an exercise in people talking about what other people are doing wrong.

This sort of thing sounds, of course, terribly whiny and boring and it made me think: there's actually something to be said for talking about yourself.

This particular insight comes from reading people's blogs.  I found myself comparing (say) the letters page of The Age, with its demands for what governments in particular and other people in general must do, with the "Running against the Odds" blog, where Anita talks about what she does to be the best XC coach she can be.  Or "Pointe till you Drop", where Johannan writes about what is needed to create an artform of pure beauty.  And compared with the person who sourly reflected that Chirstians are

conservative voters who believe in their right to have special privileges ie private schools, the right to be homophobic, anti feminist and even eternal life! It should be no surprise they are the least likely to hit the streets in protest on behalf of the vulnerable

we can have Kelly who understands the world in a way that brings her joy and wants to share that joy with other people.  One doesn't have to agree with her to find that a laudable thing.

Looking further afield, homesteading bloggers like Amber and ultra-runners like Jessica are also strikingly positive and affirming: after all, they are talking about a life they have consciously and voluntarily assumed, and which they stick with even when it is tough.  How can one not be inspired by reading about their lives?

Maybe our hypercritical, hypercynical world is reaching a critical mass, where to look at the outside world too much is to become jaded.  Maybe the best thing many of us can do is to find the light and passion within ourselves and share it with the world outside.