Everyday Canvas

On Independence and Blogging

For "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" 

Prompt: July 4th! Here in the US, this is Independence Day. Tell us what independence means to you.

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Independence means sovereignty for countries and autonomy for any one person or a group of people. Both mean having the ability of making one’s or the group’s own decisions. In the case of autonomy, a group can still be allied with a larger group or country, while their internal affairs are their own business.

As much as I like the term independence, however, I ask if a person can be totally independent on the personal scale. The answer is no. We do depend on one another to live in this world. We all do different things and we are trained to do different things; so, some kind of a give-and-take cannot be avoided. Still, on some level, we all like to do what we wish to do and are able to do on our own. For example, once a child learns how to feed herself with a spoon, a parent’s intervention is one intervention too many. The same criteria can be applied to individuals, the state, or the country.

To me, independence, above all, means the ability to think for myself and express myself freely, as long as I don’t step on other people’s freedoms. Unfortunately, it is not accepted as such by some people, therefore leading to vandalism, theft, and violence.

Still to me, independence is being able to do what I want with my time and money, but is it possible? Yesterday, I spent six hours on the phone by being sent from one computerized answering machine of my health insurance company to another, circling about, and at the end being sent to the first number I dialed. No kidding! The answer was there and it took two minutes for a representative to clarify it. Go figure! I think, at least until really capable robots are invented, if the companies could man their phones properly instead of letting computers do the work, wouldn’t we all be freer?

Since I am an older person and, recently, I have seen others in residential places for the elderly, the idea of independence has translated into assisted autonomy for each individual who needed help due to health concerns and changing mobility. This means a person’s wish to stay independent does not go hand in hand with their capabilities. For the sake of honoring any one person’s independence, letting an older person in on their care gives them a feeling of empowerment and may add more ease into the practice of their care.

Therefore, independence is a complicated concept because it has different meanings at different levels and for different people.

For: "Space Blog Group" 
Prompt: From Emily ’s "A Piece Of My Heart" 
"When it came time for me to start blogging again, I found myself paralyzed. I was trapped by the belief that my blog had to be unique, that it had to have a defined theme, and that it had to be appealing to everyone. After some time, scouring Google for advice, I realized that if all I did was worry and plan, I would spend forever worrying and planning and never get to writing."
Analyze and report. What do you think? Do you agree or disagree?

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One great rule I learned is that if you want to write anything, you sit down and write it, regardless of any rules. Rules can always be applied later. I have word files and paper books in which I have written whatever comes, freeflow, and it is my favorite kind of writing.

The way I see it, blogging is the newest form of journaling, and a blog is what you wish it to be. I especially like the freedoms I can take with it.

Having said that, I understand one does need to plan only if they have an assignment and a deadline to write a piece. Yet, a blog piece is not such an assignment. It is what one thinks offhand about a subject, any subject.

Granted, when we first began blogging, I didn’t know what it was, and I did do some research like Emily . I believe the year was 2003. I found out that most of the popular blogs on the web were subject-oriented, as the bloggers wanted to have readers and followers. Luckily, I am not a very ambitious person and I like to do what I like to do when I like to do it, even though I have a few different book items here in WdC on specific subjects.

After I started my first blog with the idea of penning pieces on the craft of writing, a friend who isn’t on this site anymore invited me to blog with the Blog City. Thus, my writing blog turned into a prompt-answering blog. After some entries to it, I thought I should have a separate book item just for writing to prompts. So, the blog I am writing in now was born, and it has proven itself to be the most fun to write in because the prompts are varied as they are given by several different people.

As a general personal rule, I don’t answer to very many prompts in one entry because I have a big mouth which transfers itself into what my fingers on the keyboard can transcribe. I also like to write more than a paragraph or two on a subject. For that reason, in the past, I had refused to subscribe to other blogging groups, and I have only been writing for the Blog City alone until the Space Blog came about.

When Chris graciously offered an invitation, I figured writing for two prompts wouldn’t take too much time at this point in my life, and I can always let a day or two pass by without me blogging. So, here it is, me doing my thing. I hope everyone is enjoying their blogging like I do mine.