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{ June 11,
'98 }
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Nazis, Sheep & Goats.
This morning I read an article about Web Journals in the front page of The Tropics, my Geocities neighborhood. Magdalen, the author, gives some pointers to people thinking about starting their own web journals. The idea of an honest, schizophrenic, or simply egomaniacal autobiography on the web is blossoming.
She quoted why web journals suck, and I like it when you do that, well-written guides for people who haven't thought through their intentions of WHY to write a journal, WHAT to write, WHO to write about, and HOW to write it.
Mea Culpa. I accuse myself of not thinking this through. I accuse myself also of concentrating on myself and not considering others. I want the thoughts and actions recorded here to be not only mine.
Me, I, Yo, ego, NO.
We, us, nosotros, YES.
Is grandiose ME worthy of bandwith? Before I start talking about myself in the third person like a Roman emperor, let me rephrase: Who is my audience? Will they be interested enough in the content of this journal to justify me starting it?
In the flood of data hurled at our senses, relevance is like a nazi official. It points to the left or the right, telling us whether a datum dies in the holocaust gas chambers of the subconscious, or is fit to work in the concentration camp of our minds. Relevance is like Jesus at Judgement Day. It sits on a throne and decides whether a thought is a sheep, worthy of entering the heaven of our attention, or a goat, destined for the eternal punishment of oblivion. Relevance is the filter that determines what is worthy of our attention. The thoughts we consider irrelevant are not heard, seen, felt, sensed, remebered. We do not waste our consciousness on them.
YOU are that nazi official, YOU are the one seated on the throne. YOU determine if what you're reading is worthy of your energy. I hope that if this isn't you'll tell me, or I'll find out soon, and I'll refrain from clogging the internet with a journal of babble.
As I was reviewing what I'd written so far, this sobering thought came to me: my ultimate audience, with the highest authority are not visitors to this site, but the King, Jesus Christ. When he sits on the throne he will decide whether the content of this site, our entire lives, and each individual person are those of sheep or goats.
Return to the Green Room, or to
Day by Day.
email me at aeortiz@iname.com.