I’ve been meaning to find a topic to write about that will make people sit up immediately and say, “Here! I can’t ignore this. I can’t scroll down. I have to read this. You can’t stop me from reading this!”
But alas, as I’m rummaging through topics, turning them in my head, checking them for possibilities, I can’t think of a single one that can prove to be the common denominator between me and other people.
That’s not to say I don’t have topics or that they’ve lost interest. It’s just that the connections are hard to spot.
Thoughtful topics are lonely roads. Cerebral ones more so than others. Descriptions? Ummm. Overlooked unless accompanied by pictures. Is the age of a good description over then, driven out by its more vivid cousin, the photograph, now so easily taken and rendered visible that the last nail in the coffin of the descriptive vignette is almost audible?
Do I care about people?
I have to be honest. It’s not like I don’t care at all if any of this is read.
But I’m also flexible. Or so I think. It’s not like I care about one topic and one topic only so much so that I’ll keep at it no matter what. It’s not like I have an agenda. It’s not like I want to keep writing playing the same persona saying the same things over and over again.
I don’t have a mission.
My mind is a kaleidoscope. I have many thoughts arranging themselves into various shapes through the day. Too many to give form to a single perspective on life. I don’t mind if I’m able to put some and not others out there for people to see. I can do what people like. I can perform. If you can’t separate yourself from yourself a bit, what’s the use of writing, I think.
I’m not very cerebral either. Colours and shapes fascinate me. I like to leave the connections to folks who take the time to read. My job is simply to present things as they are. Perhaps a little as they could be. But never what should or shouldn’t be. I let that slip ‘coz that’s not my job either.
And yet, what do people like to read? What do people like to share? What kind of writing is able to accrue readers’ energy, so vital to survival on the internet where individuals are mostly moving along driven by their own steam with little to prop them up?
To me, three topics seem to attract instant attention. I wish I could do them.
Love, funny and weird.
Love. Romance. Sex. Fantasy love. Hallmark-y love. Dating. Relationships. Everyone wants to dream. Everyone wants to find the way. Everyone wants. Period.
Humour. Let me think. I can be funny sometimes but all the time? Everyday? Should I dare? A joke that falls flat is worse than a joke not made at all. Do I have the gift?
What about Weird? Weird funny or just weird weird? Words, pictures, art. Weirdness defies definition. It can only be recognized when presented successfully.
No, I don’t have that gift at all.
Is there another way?
I’ve noticed that the only other way to get people involved is to invoke some strong emotion in them. Make them angry. Make them want to say something. Or throw something. The stronger the emotion, the better the chance of something being thrown. But of course they can’t see you, so they can’t aim at you. So they do the next best thing they know. They share. They even like or follow!
But make them experience beauty for a few moments or see a pattern? Nah! Too passive a reaction to collect critical energy to survive.
So is there a positive emotion that could make you popular?
Sure there is. Cute kitten pictures.
So here’s one:
bottledworder 
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