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My eyes scanned the room seeking something to occupy me while I waited. Perched on the floor in front of my laptop, I looked up at the bookshelves. All that knowledge just sitting there collecting dust. For reasons unknown, an old, cloth-bound book drew my attention. It was The Essays of E. B. White, printed in 1977; originally written in 1934. Both the physical condition and the content of the book are several decades old with no apparent allure. And yet, this book caught my eye, beckoning me to pick it up.
Though I rarely read forewords in books, my attention was directed to the foreword of this one. And there I found a treasure. Nearly eight decades ago, E. B. White wrote what I am dubbing “the profile of a blogger.” Only the blogger of White’s era was called an “essayist.” His words are as applicable today as the day he wrote them. In fact, even more so now, as the “essayist” of his time had far less exposure and opportunity as the “blogger” of our time has. After reading his foreword, I knew I needed to transcribe it. (Replacing his reference of “essayist” with the modern day digital equivalent “blogger,” and adding a subtitle of my own words, the following is…)
E.B. White’s PROFILE OF A BLOGGER: “…the gift of natural candor…”
The blogger is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks about, everything that happens to him, is of general interest. He is a fellow who thoroughly enjoys his work, just as people who take bird walks enjoy theirs. Each new excursion of the blogger, each new “attempt,” differs from the last and takes him into new country. This delights him. Only a person who is congenitally self-centered has the effrontery and the stamina to write blog posts.
There are as many kinds of blogs as there are human attitudes or poses, as many blog flavors as there are Howard Johnson ice creams. The blogger arises in the morning and, if he has work to do…can put on any sort of shirt, be any sort of person, according to his mood or his subject matter – philosopher, scold, jester, raconteur, confidant, pundit, devil’s advocate, enthusiast….
The blogger, unlike the novelist, the poet, and the playwright, must be content in his self-imposed role of second-class citizen. A writer who has his sights trained on the Nobel Prize or other earthly triumphs had best write a novel, a poem, or a play, and leave the blogger to ramble about, content with living a free life and enjoying the satisfactions of a somewhat undisciplined existence.
There is one thing the blogger cannot do, though – he cannot indulge himself in deceit or in concealment, for he will be found out in no time. Desmond McCarthy, in his introductory remarks to the 1928 E. P. Dutton & Company edition of Montaigne, observes that Montaigne “hadthe gift of natural candor…” It is the basic ingredient. And even the blogger’s escape from discipline is only a partial escape: the blog post, although a relaxed form, imposes its own disciplines, raises its own problems, and these disciplines and problems soon become apparent and (we all hope) act as a deterrent to anyone wielding a pen [or keyboard] merely because he entertains random thoughts or is in a happy or wandering mood.
I think some people find the blog the last resort of the egoist, a much too self-conscious and self-serving form for their taste; they feel that it is presumptuous of a writer to assume that his little excursions or his small observations will interest the reader. There is some justice in their complaint. I have always been aware that I am by nature self-absorbed and egotistical; to write of myself to the extent I have done indicates a too great attention to my own life, not enough to the lives of others. I have worn many shirts, and not all of them have been a good fit. But when I am discouraged or downcast I need only fling open the door of my closet, and there, hidden behind everything else, hangs the mantle of Michel de Montaigne, smelling slightly of camphor.
White introduces Michel de Montaigne – a 16th century Frenchman who is credited with the creation of the essayist/blogging writing style. He broke barriers in writing, establishing the personal and informal format as not only acceptable but desirable prose. Montaigne’s literary influence dominates the blogosphere. He captures the essence of blogging with two of his best known proclamations:
“I am myself the matter of my book [blog]” and. “Que sais-je?” (translated, ‘What do I know?’)
Montaigne and White are indeed the godfathers of blogging. I am but a cog in their movement – a self-absorbed writer, penning whatever inspires me to write. I am the content of my blog – my heart and mind, experiences and observations, exposed on the Internet to share with the world, always mindful that my contributions to the voices are merely a speck of dust in the universe, offered in conjunction with millions of other particles floating in sunlight.
Que sais-je? Not much. But I share anyway. That’s the beauty of blogging.
Photo credits: Wikepedia, John McNab
Also posted at allisonsumpter.com
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