I believe it is.
In the blog world, people are very found of putting quotes, famous or otherwise, on the masthead of their blog.
What I find interesting and what my personal belief is, is that the quote gives a very small window into that particular person's soul (or character if you find the word "soul" a bit too deep and/or personal). It allows us a brief moment to contemplate the "why" behind the meaning of that particular quote as it applies to that individual.
A good majority of the blogs that I follow/read/subscribe to have a quote, famous or otherwise, and each of the quotes that I've read not only have I found to be very interesting, but from time to time, I try to guess (without prying, which is the only way to truly play the game) the reason why that particular quote is up there to begin with.
Take me for example. The quote I use on my masthead is self created: "A little bit of heaven in the middle of suburbia."
Long term readers of this blog already know this, but for some of my newer readers, the "why" behind the quote stems from the fact that I consider the neighborhood where I live (hence the name of the blog) a slice of country in the middle of suburbia. When the mountain and neighborhood is in full bloom, you can't hear anything of the outside world, and with the one major side road effectively closed off to traffic, you really do feel like you're in the country.
But with some of the other blogs that I read, the quote that those bloggers have on their masthead, have definitely piqued my curiosity. However, being the respectful person I am of other people's privacy, I simply don't come out and ask why they would put a quote of MacBeth on their masthead or a quote from Vikram Seth. Instead, I try to guess why that particular quote is there from reading their blog.
While the main reason for reading someone else's blog is because we find them interesting, a smaller reason (at least to me), is trying to find out the reasoning behind a given quote on blog masthead. To me, putting a quote, famous or otherwise, is the ultimate piece of privacy that we willingly allow ourselves to share publicly.
Think about for a moment.
We blog about what we are comfortable enough to share with others, and we briefly blog about the reasoning behind the stuff that we aren't comfortable enough to share with others. And even if we don't share a personal picture of ourselves because we believe that certain aspects of life should remain private, we will always give people people a very small glimpse to who and what we really are, simply by putting a quote up on our mastheads.
Quotes: the best window to the one thing that a private person can comfortably hide on a blog.
Their soul.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
11 comments:
Go on, give me your best shot. I can take it. If I couldn't, I wouldn't have created this wonderful little blog that you decided to grace with your presence today.
About that comment moderation thingy: While yes, it does say up above I can take it, I only use it to prevent the occasional miscreant from leaving thoughtless and/or clueless comments.
So remember, all of your comments are greatly appreciated and all answers will be given that personal touch that you come to expect and enjoy.
G. B. Miller
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
And thus the quote on my masthead.
ReplyDeleteIf I were curious about someone's choice of quotation on their masthead (or elsewhere), I would ask. I don't think it's an invasion of privacy because if you don't want to discuss your choice, don't put it on your public blog!
ReplyDeleteG.A.: Which is a wonderful quote that I don't quite get, but half the fun of trying to get it is reading the blog. :D
ReplyDeleteDebra: Some lessons that I've learned in the real world I extend to the blog world, and believe it or not, people have gotten offended by me asking about a particular quote/saying that they have hanging in their cubicle.
So to avoid getting my head bitten off in the cyber world, I don't ask.
I change mine from time to time depending on my mood. I post what catches me.
ReplyDeleteM: Interesting.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good reason to keep things fresh. Still, it does give a bit of mystery as to what mood you might be in with a given quote.
I've changed mine a few times.The current one I have isn't my favourite. It's a bit shallow although I do feel it's true. And as a dj I thought it was kinda appropriate. People go through a great deal of crap, but when they go out to party or celebrate it's my job to make people dance and forget their troubles for a few hours.
ReplyDeletehmmm, I don't have a quote on my masthead. I wonder what that says about me.
ReplyDeleteWe removed it a while back to save space, but we had a masthead quote that we penned on our own. "A Beer for the Shower: sometimes after a long, hard day, it's nice to just drink a cold one while the water washes away the shame and regret."
ReplyDeleteYep, that actually tells a lot about either of us.
Joe: I've always liked that Oscar Wilde quote that you used to have on your masthead. Not sure why other than I thought it perfectly described you to a T.
ReplyDeleteThe current makes a lot of sense though. People really want to forget about life for a little and someone like yourself is the perfect antidote to a miserable day.
Charles: Not too sure on that one. Perhaps you're the writing equivalent of the Dos Equis man. :D
ABFtS: Always thought that quote summed up everyone's work day to a T.
Certainly sums mine up. :D
Shakespeare quotes are good for those of us who hated Shakespeare in HS to get another chance....nope still don't like him
ReplyDeleteBearman: I lucked out in not having any Shakespeare when I was in high school.
ReplyDeleteAlways keep in mind that it could be worse. People could be quoting "The Hobbit" or "The Lord Of The Rings", which was quite popular in my high school dazes.