It is with savage rigour that I throw myself and my Mess headlong into cyber traffic once more.
And yet... I sit back, and reflect on exactly what it is I have started. This whole blogging business has spiralled almost completed out of control over the last few years. Every man and his dog seem to have a blog nowadays, and I’m not entirely sure it’s the best thing for the world. There are plenty of self-absorbed, loathsome idiots on the internet, and blogging is just another tool that gives voice to those who do not really need any more opportunities to make total asses of themselves.
TO BLOG, OR NOT TO BLOG
In my humble opinion, being a successful blogger requires something a little more than a poorly designed web-template and a basic understanding of Instagram (both, I acknowledge, I employ). It requires a more delicate spray of poignant prose and sarcastic melodrama that demands the most frugal choosing of phrases and structuring of sentences. Otherwise, you’ll bore your readers out of their fucking minds, and who wants to come back to a blog that is blatantly self-righteous and solely self-fulfilling? Bloggers should seek to enrich their readers’ lives, or work toward a common goal, uniting a community through common purpose. Not parade about their bedrooms in slap-dash ensembles snapping cheap shots of themselves on their iPhones and declaring themselves fashionistas.
And, whoa, hold up a second there- get down off Ye Olde High Horse- DISMOUNT, I SAY!- I’m not, for one second, saying that a well-written fashion blog by a talented young woman who knows what she’s talking about isn't one of the single most coolest things ever. Because God knows, I follow about four or five religiously (seriously, to the point where I might actually be considered a stalker if they knew. Don’t tell anyone). I follow the four or five that I do because these women are hard-working, worldly, experienced, respected journalists who have got their shit together and wear their eight inch towering JC’s to their local coffee parlour proudly. They also acknowledge, for the most part, that they are privileged to have made names for themselves in an industry that is as cutthroat as it is fluid- changing from one second to the next, fluctuating wildly across continents. They write well, speak well, dress well, and are fabulous role models for young women (and men) all over the world. And that shit don’t come easy.
Aside from the fashion blogging circle, there are some other truly fantastical blogs out in the cybersphere. Gala Darling has been one of my all time favourites for years (EVERYONE should get on the Radical Self Love bandwagon. EVERYONE). There are cupcake-baking blogs, misanthropy blogs (for all your people-hating needs!), shoe blogs, travel blogs, photography blogs. Blogs and bloggers of all shapes and sizes from all over the globe. But the truly great blogs are the ones that inspire you to create. To foster. To grow. To think. Isn’t that the whole point?
I’m not saying that I have some sense of entitlement to this cyber galaxy of extreme cool. I’m not saying my work is every going to be uber-famous, or uber-talked about, or even uber-known at all (apart from you delightful morsels who follow my shameless self-promoting links from Facebook- welcome!). But I’d like to think that at least I stand for a little more- living life, rather than documenting it; fostering fabulousness, while rarely feeling very fabulous myself; and of course, teetering into my local coffee parlour in stupid shoes, because what’s life without a little hypocrisy? Ha. ha. ha.
HOMEWORK
Right. Now that that's said and done... as stated in my very first entry, THIS blog is supposed to be all about Cultivating Your Personal Aesthetic. I’m starting to think that I might need to whittle that idea down a little, because now that I am beginning to appreciate the scope of the mess (actual mess, not 'beautiful Mess') I’m in at the moment, and 'cultivating an aesthetic' seems about as easy as navigating a spaceship to Jupiter.
First things first - refill coffee cup.
Second - stop contemplating the things that have, over the last three months, made me totally and completely miserable (the profoundly negative impact that a few nasty actions from a few nasty people can have on the long term health and well being of another still absolutely baffles me). I am ashamed to admit I have been driven to the point of throwing crumpet crusts at happy people on television, with black mascara tears running down my blotchy unwashed face. Disgusting.
C) - walk home from work in the sunshine.
and lastly - start planning how to Spring Clean My Conciousness (stay tuned).
Until next time,
M x
