I was advised by two reliable sources, experts in their respective fields really, on what I ought to be writing for this blog if I want to attract a larger following. One is a twenty-something I work with, so an expert on Gen Y-ers (or is it Gen Z-ers? I get confused..). The other is a journalist, a cherished friend whom I’ve known forever and an early adopter of this whole internet social media stuff. Me? I’m a dinosaur. Or was. I had never felt the need to share, let alone share with the www – whole wide world. Something has changed obviously in recent times. Probably age. I’ve always taken pride in my memory power. Just ask the above mentioned twenty-something. At times I feel like her secretary, reminding her of what I wrote or said just two weeks prior. But even the best memory weakens with age, no? If I don’t start recording all these stories about the people I love, and the thoughts I have on the most random but nonetheless fascinating things in life, will I still remember them after another decade of relentless assault by Time?

I’d like to think there’s also my love for writing. And words. To some, writing is about the pursuit of the beauty of words. They mull over every choice of word, the beauty of their composition the overriding objective. I don’t pursue beauty in the words themselves. I pursue beauty in what the words convey. A thought, a story. To me, words are the servants and the stories and thoughts, the masters. But it is the servant without whom justice to the master can never be done. Until now though, I’ve not done anything about this love, hiding behind the perfect excuse called “busyness”. As I near the halfway mark of life (assuming it ends at 80, not 100..), it feels the right moment to shake any excuses off, and get started.

So what was the advice? The twenty-something suggested lots of pictures, and a focus on fashion, to cater to the short attention span of her generation. Ok… I can do fashion – that is one of my many loves after all – but pictures…? Really? Can I see myself taking shots of OOTD (that is “outfit of the day” for those of you more dinosaurous than me)? She clarified that it doesn’t have to be pictures of myself, but I do have to credit accordingly if I use the pictures of others. Oh dear…

My friend advised the same thing. She declared categorically that there is no market for intellectual blogging. None. Zero. Nada. She suggested parenting as another “trending” topic that will interest people. Parenting? I can do that too, I suppose. I mean, I do have strong views on this (as I do many other topics!).

These well meant advice got me thinking. Would I like more people to read what I write? Yes, for more reasons than one. Should I then write what will get more people to read what I write? I must say that idea doesn’t appeal to me. It just isn’t very me.. But maybe I ought to be smart about it. As advised by my twenty-something, write what will get people interested first, then “sneak in” what I’m interested in. Such wisdom! So yes, I might try fashion and parenting next. But sorry darling, no pictures.