Even if I dedicate a part of my future to these quiet moments of writing in a small corner of the web, I don’t think I’d ever feel it was a waste.
Even if it doesn’t make money.
But running a blog with almost no footsteps coming and going doesn’t mean there’s no sense of emptiness at all.
I keep wavering endlessly between writing something “useful or entertaining” and writing “deeply personal pieces about my own life.”
I want to talk about myself, but at the same time, I do wish someone would come visit. That’s how it is.
Then suddenly,
'...The very first person in the world who started a blog must have been so lucky. With so few blogs back then, people would’ve naturally flocked to it!' I muttered with a pouty attitude. But when I looked it up, the world’s first blogger was a man named Justin Hall.
Link:
https://links.net
But when I entered his blog, my heart suddenly tightened.
Not that I literally cried.
But my heart shed a tear.
My own blog is full of add-ons and decorations, trying “somehow” to express myself.
But the blog run by the world’s very first blogger still looks just like those early days of the internet—
the pure HTML page aesthetic.
A clean white background with centered black text,
and the sparsely placed hyperlinks that embody the true meaning of HyperText.
I feel this while running my blog these days, and
many “content creators,” from news journalists to YouTubers, probably feel the same, but—
the reason we talk loudly about celebrities is because it becomes one of the easiest ways to make others listen to us.
Even if I want to talk about myself, it means nothing to others,
so instead, we borrow stories of celebrities who already occupy space in people’s minds and deliver them in our own voices.
But Justin, this uncle-like figure, was sharing his deeply personal stories in such a plain, honest way.
How he cooked with old bread, but the greasy aftertaste was strange and his kids refused to eat it,
and how his self-esteem dropped and he felt depressed.
They were such intimate personal stories—not bold proclamations to the world—
but the title of “the world’s first blogger” had already shaped the way I looked at him,
so each word sank deeply into my heart.
It’s such an admirable “position.”
Even without loud noise,
even while quietly sharing personal thoughts,
people still come, open their hearts, and read.
A position I could never have...
I wanted to become a graceful blogger like that too.