Tag: #life is fine

Strings attached: A new concept

The day I started getting far away from all the strings was the day I found myself caught among those strings.

These strings were nothing but the relationships I was in, I am friend to few, daughter to two, and sister to one. Sometimes I think if our life was just about us, then why our story isn’t, our story contains all characters which were role-played by thousands of people who led our way to complete our story. These people are like beads on a string some fall off, some stays but everyone had a role.

With time passing by, and we growing up through different age groups have witnessed cutting off of strings leaving behind memories and pain and strings attached from who have decided to stay and support.

Strings hold us both in negative and positive ways. They will be there to share victory with, tears to shed down with and shoulder to lean on and few strings which might weaken you. You have to be cautious while you sort out the various strings. When we were child , our world felt small yet sufficient and our dreams came with no expiry date. Teenage and adulthood are the age of being a rebel. The strings which were shielding us, start feeling like a boundary which is taking away our independence. How are we so sure that are independence lies away from those strings?

We cover miles, all of us travel in our life journey but at the end of day we all come back to our home i.e;to that string in whose embrace we can grow. We all are weird , just in different ways, we want things to get dispatched but are also waiting for a parcel to come up saying “P.S. I love you.” We ain’t sure about the doorway to our life shall be left open to let people walk in or door shall be closed to keep away toxicity. It feels like a lot to decide on, but keeping decisions wait listed has surrounded us with pile around.

When I ponder upon this concept , the string which is connected to me from far away, seems to be more strong as compared to the one who is close by me. Maybe things which are far away are much easier to handle as compared to those we have to come across daily.

What is ‘No strings attached ‘ ? I think whoever have been a part of our life has also got their strings attached but then , it’s there will if they want to be attached or just walk away. Walking away different ways is called ‘ no strings attached .’

Life is too short to mess it up, instead find a way out to strings which will strengthen you more.

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“What is the difference between Blogging and Journalism?”

Before we continue we must first of all find out what the two really are and then we will be able to identify the difference between them.

So then, what is blogging?  Blogging was actually created by Justin Hall. It all started in 1994 when many witness the   birth of the first blog. According to creative blog,  It was  called  Links.net  – a place where  creator  Justin Hall could share his musings and  his favorite  links  with the world .  It was a page where he could express himself, share his ideas and content on the web (Creative blog).

As years went by and technology progressed   in 1997 ,  many people started using their own personal websites as a place  to spotlight their ideas, the term “ weblog” was coined and  shortened to “ blog”   in 1999( Creative blog) .

People needed a place to share ideas, thoughts, express their feelings, and experiences. They found that having a place where you could share ideas and express yourself was an ideal way to share intimate information with people who are very close to you, friends and family.

According to creative blog,   when people first started blogging   they did not have to share it on Facebook or join a content network   or outwardly promote it. It was actually private   and people shared it with people they knew and they knew where to find them.

Before, blogging grew to what we know it today,   early blogger’s hosted contents on sites like Xanga. It was founded in 1998, and live journal in 1999.  Both were simple to use,  but  were  mostly  only able  to swap  out colors schemes  and minor  layout pieces, but very  effective  at allowing users to publish  quickly  and easily( Creative blog).

Many people became very interested in this new thing that they started looking beyond their intimate circle for more information to read. They started exploring, looking for the best blog and content on the web.    Blogging actually gained it roots when Charlotte Observer set up its blog and used it to share information in mainstream news something that had not been done before.  They used it and kept people informed. The Bonnie Blog set   records for page views on the observer’s site. They also set the stage along with Drudge reports breaking of the Clinton –Lewinsky scandal, for a major shift in the way blogging platform were used (Creative Blog).

Soon people started showing interest in blogging and online news.  They needed to find new ways on how to manage the content and share these ideas with the public.  According to creative blog, I n 2003 Google launch AdSense, this allowed bloggers to earn income for their work.  Soon many people were blogging. This gave them the opportunity to earn an income for the work that they do. Now it has become a profession for some people whereby they learn how to blog and make money. As we have seen what was once consider to be expression of people’s feelings , passion, ideas , thoughts and what was  going on around the world, like current events has evolve to a whole new phenomenon. Blog is abbreviated of “Weblog,”   it is used to describe websites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information.  A blog is like a personal diary type commentary and links to articles on other websites.   It ranges from personal to political and can focus on concerns of the people. It is a place where most people feel very free to write and share their concerns.

Add context to a story by linking and commenting on other material found online.  Basically  when journalist blogs , they express their view about the issues surrounding whatever they are reporting on and even does it better because there are no restrictions  like when they are actually doing journalistic work.  To be a journalist one needs an academic training or formal training from a reputable school of journalism.  To be a blogger one needs a website and need to know how to express him or herself by writing.

Simply, blogging is viewed by many as unreliable because it’s someone’s opinion and the other one is viewed as reliable because one has to verify the source of the information before it can be broadcast the world. However, I think it is a perception issue of what the public view as reliable or unreliable and I say this because when we look at the evolvement of blogging over the years we can infer that blogging has become a huge deal that even major companies are using blogs to promote their businesses on their websites  and different forums. It has become one of the reliable sources that most people rely on to read and make decisions about whether they want to do business with the firm, purchase from them or inquire about what they do and what it entails.  As mentioned before, even journalist  and others have taken to blogs in order  to share information with others.

‘Life is Fine’ by Langston Hughes.

Sometimes, when people ask us how we are, we would want to bawl our eyes out and say “I am not fine”. But there are also days when we can happily say that we are fine. Such is life with all its ups and downs. 

In the poem ‘Life is Fine’, Langston Hughes deals with a darker theme of taking one’s own life. The first stanza starts with the narrator sitting down by a river bank and trying to figure out something. It  is clear that the poet is worried and is trying to think about it. When he can’t find answers for his problems, he throws himself into the river. This comes as a surprise to a reader at first when one doesn’t know the theme of the poem. 

But instead of drowning, the narrator comes up. He hollers and cries for help. The narrator reasons out that he didn’t die because it was too cold to bear. He seems to have backed out at the last moment. He repeatedly says it was because the water was cold as if trying to console himself. 

I came up once and hollered!

I came up twice and cried!

If that water hadn’t a-been so cold

I might’ve sunk and died. 

  But it was      Cold in that water!      It was cold!

The narrator tries to kill himself for the second time when he is going up in an elevator. He plans to throw himself out of the elevator. Also, readers come to know the reason for his suicide attempts. He is missing someone to whom he refers as ‘baby’.

But he doesn’t jump off the elevator because it is too high. It is quite ironic how the narrator is more concerned about the physical pain caused by death. Readers also come to understand the vulnerable mindset of the narrator. It is obvious the narrator is suffering and is in pain.

I stood there and I hollered!

I stood there and I cried!

If it hadn’t a-been so high

I might’ve jumped and died.

In the concluding stanzas, the narrator complies with reality and decides to go on living. He decides to live simply because he was born to live. He could have died in place of his beloved, but he can’t because he was destined to live his life.   

So since I’m still here livin’,

I guess I will live on.

I could’ve died for love—

But for livin’ I was born

While he continues to live on, he might suffer and cry. He may have more painful experiences, but he is resolute to live. He is earnest to live. He assures his beloved that he will live and not die.   

Though you may hear me holler,

And you may see me cry—

I’ll be dogged, sweet baby,

If you gonna see me die.

He ends the poem with the line,

Life with all its pain and suffering may appear fine when we are resolute to live on. We may go through hard times, but it may not appear hard when we live on. When we grow old, we understand what to cling onto in life and what to leave behind. Thus, this poem which starts with a gloomy theme ends with an optimistic message that life is fine as long as we continue to live. So, let’s live.

    Life is fine!      Fine as wine!      Life is fine!