An Ode To The Blogosphere

Engrossed!

Its going to be two months since I started blogging.  When I began I was alone, all alone, quiet, very quiet. But inside of me there was a turmoil, a storm, a stream of questions troubling me all the time. I was disoriented, middle age crisis?! ( now I wonder).  I was obviously unhappy, with myself, with my situation, basically myself.  Looking for an anchor in life to hold on to. I was slipping deep, I was slipping deep into depression.  The nothingness, this loneliness was killing me silently.  No, don't get those ideas, I have a lovely family, a good job, a comfortable lifestyle.  God has been kind, He made me suffer, work and wait, before He gave me the material comforts that I wanted for a normal (middle class) life.

So, in my unhappiness, I applied for a distance learning course, (I have to appear for the Entrance Exam also). Then began to read some books.  I read Caulo Paulo's Veronika Decides to Die (title was really appealing to me!) and the Alchemist,  I loved the books.  Then the third book was and is Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Girlbert.  You must be knowing there is a movie coming up featuring Julia Roberts.  This book brought out a change in me!

The author, known as Liz by her friends, and now by me too, was depressed, very very depressed.  Ah, she was much more depressed than me! A divorce, no children, and then a breakup.... ah serious heart ache..... Liz was crying, she was crying in the middle of the night, sitting in the bathroom like mad.  Suddenly, I could relate to her, I too was depressed!

But then she decides to go on a tour, all alone to Italy, then India and then to Indonesia.  She travelled, she ate, she prayed, and now she is in love in Bali! (presently I have finished the book till here)

Anyways, I started feeling better after reading her, seeing her so depressed. (So next time You are depressed, find another person who is more depressed than you, and you will feel better!) I made friends with her actually! When she stayed in Ashram in India, she became very spiritual, she learned to meditate (I already know it wow!), she introspected about her failed marriage and her failed relationship.  She learnt to forgive her ex-husband.  She transformed as a human being, I mean she felt a change of heart.

I would read the book, in the morning before going to work, and at night before I slept, sometimes early morning.  One night I even dreamt about my life, on the lines of the story. I knew I was living the book.  Her simple style of writing and understandable words ( I never used a dictionary for a single word) inspired something in me.  I wanted to express like her, I wanted to write about the small and the big things around me, about the things I learn, about the things I love and hate, just like her.  Something in me kept on churning,  my mind was on fire.  I already knew about blogging, it was not new for me.  One day I decided I want to write my blog.

And that was 25 June 2010, when I wrote my first post.  I was all alone, no friends here, no one knew RESTLESS existed, in fact she was just born, there were no joyful words welcoming her arrival (that was just a joke OK!). Then I wrote a post saying that I am a self talker, as there were no readers at that time. I had decided none of my friends or known people to be here, so that I can speak my heart and mind out without the consciousness of they being around or their watchful and curious eyes weighing my words and reading between my lines (our own people can be so judgemental  sometimes, what do you say?).

But today, Now , I am a happy, mentally and physically occupied person.  Feel elated because I have a medium to reach out to other people and share my thoughts with them. I am so grateful, I have a blog, Internet, a PC (or may be in the reverse order!), I am so thankful, I have made friends with so many blogger pals Purba, Divz, Addy, Varsha, Restless Souldier, Desi Girl, Vee, Sharbouri and many more with whom I interact through commenting and on forums. There are many many more bloggers with whose blog I like, and I interact frequently, they are becoming my friends slowly. 

It changed my life completely.  Its unbelievable for me. I am a happier person, though the challenges of life don't leave you, but somewhere I know I have a little world of my own, where I can write about My World My Perception.

Thanks to all my readers and my followers and the ones I follow for their support, their patience to read my rather long posts and giving their time to me to write those valuable and sometimes very lovable comments. 

A Restless Heart With

A Sensitive Mind !!!

What Does Your Profile Picture Say?

Blogosphere is an amazing world, with each blog speaking its own mind, having its own personality.  Your profile picture and your profile name is the window to the reader to your little world.  Do you give enough thought before choosing a picture ? Do you know it can have tremendous effect on the reader's decision or otherwise to check out your blog or not?

Various people choose many types of pics - self, other's,  cartoons, animals, things, slogan etc.

On the basis of my observations of profile pictures in blogs or social networking sites, I have tried to bring about a few things about what does a particular profile picture signify about the blogger.

CELEBRITY STUFF :  Either you love the celebrity too much (ideally you should find a better way to express it!). But seriously speaking, it shows non seriousness towards blog and also lack of confidence in one's own looks or personality.

LOVE- FLORA AND FAUNA :  Someone using an animal, bird or flower etc can mean two things, one that the person draws a parallel with the prominent, well known characteristics of the living being.  Like a lion, for being royal and powerful, a penguin for its innocent and sweet looks, a sparrow for its chirpiness  or its ability to fly freely and a flower for its beauty.

NATURE AND OBJECTS : Same goes for things of natural beauty, like sky, clouds, river, fire.  Here, for example,boundless sky is an expression of one's broad mindset etc. Objects like earthen lamp or light signifies hope in the time of despair or being a self made person.

PICTURES OF SELF/HUMAN FACE.  This is one sphere which needs maximum elaboration and its quite interesting.

A passport kind of a pic shows someone very serious, especially serious about one's image and one's blog and wants a proper representation of his identity on his blog.

A close up of the face of the blogger with light, smiling and pleasant expression shows the person is social, with straight forward approach towards the blog and has nothing to hide about him/herself.

A Side cut of a face, musing, thinking, shows the person either wants to partly hide his identity and secondly wants to highlight the thinking, ponderous side of his personality.  If thoughtfully chosen by the blogger, then such characteristics like deep observations and  thoughts would be visible in his/her blog too. (This one is my personal favourite!)

PICTURES WITH FACE HIDDEN (PARTIALLY)

YOU DON'T KNOW ME :Hiding the face completely means the person does not want to reveal her identity at all.  But relates to her blog hence puts her touch to the pic by darkening her pic, avoiding the exposure of face  but pics of  body parts like hands, feet may used.  It also adds an element of mystery and the pic remain very individualistic.

THE BEAUTIFUL ME : Hiding the face partially and highlighting a beautiful feature of the face, say only eyes, or the flush of a cheek, hair, only ear with earrings etc is another interesting thing that I have noticed.  It signifies that although the person does not want to be recognised or revealed but wants to draw attention to that feature, which surely he/she rates as very good.

EYES :  This is most commonly seen, one eye in close up.  (That makes me laugh always, it looks like retina scan to me!)  Its weird and that is what the blogger wants to show

NUDITY : Display of obscene gestures, nudity or showing off one's intimate body parts, even partially, is all attention seeking behaviour or else it can mean that the person is giving a window the the content of the blog.  ( can see the glee in your eyes, u guys!!)

MESSAGE FREAKS :  Some people like putting message/thought on things like a T-shirt as profile pic.  Again shows need for anonymity and telling the reader his/her attitude about a thing.  Moreover its quite imaginative  also.

GIRL IN THE CLOAK :  sometimes, in order to avoid the attention of non-serious male readers/bloggers (who are mouse-clicking happy to see a pretty face!),  girls choose profile pics which are non-descript.

ATTITUDE - HAVE IT FLAUNT IT - some profile pics show certain body language showing highhandedness, arrogance, superiority or "couldn't care less" attitude, say a pic of lower limbs of a man sitting with feet up on a working table.  Its OK if you have attitude, but then that should be the shade of your blog too.

The only point I want to make here is that its alright to have a profile picture whatsoever you choose, after all you are the best judge and its your blog, but having a profile picture, and for that matter a profile name too, congruent to your blog, the flavour, the feel of your blog is important. After all,it can affect your blog traffic, when the pic is too bland or uninteresting or repulsive.

Lastly, in no way I am saying I am an expert on this, everything above is purely my observation and my perception.

Have fun!

A Restless Mind With

A Sensitive Heart!