opinios

There are times when I hate this blog. Is it even a blog? Let's analyse it.

It professes to be a portal to encourage creativity. But because of that it doesn't have any real focus. Is it about writing? Drawing? Music? Photography? Film? Expressing opinions? No, it's about all of them. And it's also about none of them. It's a half-arsed attempt to be all of them that fails because it is too ambitious a task, so it meanders around trying to offer up tidbits from all over the place. And when its readers just want to do that, read something, and not rack their brain to create something, then it tries to prod them into writing when they probably don't wanna. I can hear them out there, stumbling onto opinios for the first time looking for a new blog to add to their collection of daily reads, and screaming: "Bugger off! You write this story! That's why we came here, so we can read it!" Next!

And then there is the content. Dribs and drabs from people around the world. Some cool stuff in there. But why? I mean honestly, if people want to express themselves they will just make their own blog. And by handing over the content to the masses I'm starting to feel like I can't get angry, or mad, or express myself, because it doesn't fit the context. Look at this post! Despite the wide context I've given myself, it's unrelated. It's just a rant that people might say belongs on the discussion board. It's not writing. It's not art.

In short I feel like it's not mine anymore. I feel like any writing I put up on the site needs to fit a certain category now, and whinging about how the web site is not evolving in a way I had planned doesn't fit any of those categories. I am second-guessing that my audience doesn't want to hear it (probably correctly) and that is preventing me from expressing myself, which is the whole driving force for the site in the first place. Self-imposed restrictions perhaps, but they are restrictions nonetheless.

Well, fuck that. opinios is getting opinionated.

Like I've mentioned, I spread myself pretty thinly. But I wonder if I should give my writing more focus than I have been. A book I'm reading called The Right To Write talks about how writing is good for the soul. How we actually need to do it. And that when we sit down to do it we shouldn't censor. We should just listen to our inner voice and let it come. A friend of mine last night mentioned that he finds it cleansing. I think he's right. Music is fun to play. A drawing looks good after you've finished. Photos look cool on the wall. But I think writing is good for me.

So, here it is. Up until now, the focus of opinios has supposedly been express yourself. Well, we're going back to roots ladies and gentlemen. Rants, tangents and opinions all over the front page. And mostly mine. Yes, it might mean making opinios more like the trazillion other blogs out there who scream Me! Me! Me! and complain about getting writer's block or laugh at the old man down the street with a yappy dog who watches the passers by. But hell, I'm paying for this damn hosting. If you want something with more of a focus, you should read 35 Degrees - it's actually about something.

If people want to still send stuff in, awesome - I'd love to put it up. But creative portal? That's too vague. Tell me if I'm wrong.

Josh's apartment was not really an apartment. It was more like a wide broom closet with a sink. It was minimally furnished with a wobbly grey table on which plates, utensils and breakfast cereal boxes performed a balancing act for an empty audience. An army-issue camping mat was rolled up in one corner, and on the opposite side of the room a well-travelled suitcase lay open, its contents scattered about the room like a collage of clothes. There were no windows.

Ok, here is a little experiment to make opinios even more interactive. You guys shape the story. I want submissions for how it continues, and as they come in I will update it. Who are these people? What happens to them? Humour and silliness are welcome but if it gets too crude I won't post it. How good can this collaborative story be? It's up to you.

If two people happen to send in continuing paragraphs at the same time then I will choose the best one. Let's make each submission, say, a minimum of one paragraph, a maximum of three. Maybe we can finish it in ten, maybe it will go on forever.

Click here to read the opening paragraphs. I have kicked it off, how it evolves is up to you... Contribute to the story by emailing the next instalment to canvas AT opinios.com.

The nightwind has a voice. It speaks softly in song. Lie still in tall grass and feel the planet breathe around you. The universe is a thing of life; of creation. We are moved by the planets for we move like them. Circles large and small, we are all part of the same cycle, we propel the same wheel. In and out of darkness, our seasons change and our hearts yearn as the tides turn. We grow what we can. The nightwind has a voice.