Opinions

I’ve been blogging for exactly 6 weeks now (time flies when you’re having fun) and it’s been quite interesting to note the reactions it has caused.

People paying lip-service is one such reaction. “It’s just not my scene” is another. Criticism for not doing enough blogs and criticism for doing too many blogs!

The most frequent question I’ve been asked though is:

“Well WHY are you blogging!?” and my response to that is usually “Well why not!?”

For me there’s no ulterior motive here. I’m seeking neither praise nor criticism. I’m not trying to make friends or enemies. I’m definitely not doing it to ram my opinions down anybody’s throats… and it’s not something I can earn money doing (dammit!)

I’m genuinely just doing it for fun, and writing about things that interest me is simply something that I gain a lot of enjoyment in doing.

Obviously I’m HUGELY grateful to anyone who reads what I scribe, but I’m clear in my head that it’s of 99% irrelevance to me whether they like it, hate it, disagree with it or love it!

The 1% is the ‘I’m only human’ part of me that is quite pleased when someone is genuinely kind about my blogs, but I know that very easily any book can be put down, so I don’t get over excited about praise, nor sad about negativity.

It’s just me blurting about things that I like– hopefully with a fair degree of confidence – and sharing my opinions about the topics in question.

And it really is all about opinions isn’t it? Disagree or agree as much as you like with what I write – either way you will be paying more attention to the matter than I am!

And then on Facebook yesterday, I saw this gem attributed to Prof. Brian Cox:

 I couldn’t agree more – love it!!!

So (for fun) having done a bit of research on ‘opinions’, please peruse some of the below quotes:

(with thanks to the Good Reads website)

• “People can tell you to keep your mouth shut, but that doesn't stop you from having your own opinion.” ― Anne Frank

• “People have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste.” ― Voltaire

• “If you want me to treat your ideas with more respect, get some better ideas.” ― John Scalzi

• “Opinions are like nipples, everybody has one. Some have firm points, others are barely discernible through layers, and some are displayed at every opportunity regardless of whether the audience has stated "I am interested in your nipples" or not.” ― David Thorne

• “I may be wrong in regard to any or all of them; but holding it a sound maxim, that it is better to be only sometimes right, than at all times wrong, so soon as I discover my opinions to be erroneous, I shall be ready to renounce them.” ― Abraham Lincoln

• “I have learned that trying to control other people’s opinions of you is the fastest possible route to unhappiness.” ― Dan Pearce

• “A ‘normal person’ is what is left after society has squeezed out all unconventional opinions and aspirations out of a human being.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

• “As uncomfortable as it might be, I refuse to let the comfort of being agreed with suffocate my opinions.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

• “The strength of one's opinion should not exceed their knowledge on the matter.” ― Eric Hirzel

• “If ten eyewitnesses are asked to describe a suspect, you'll get ten different variations. The same applies to readers and their opinions about the same book. And that's how it should be; we're not robots.” ― Shawnda Currie

• “One test result is the worth one-thousand expert opinions.” ― Werner Von Braun

• “Don't let other people's opinions distort your reality. Be true to yourself. Be bold in pursuing your dreams. Be unapologetically you!” ― Steve Maraboli

Just a few to pass comment on (I couldn’t resist could I!?)

• “It was always disconcerting to discover that you shared opinions with someone you had no respect for.” ― Anon

In my opinion(!) that is utter garbage and snobbery at its peak. A more contrived stance I’d be hard pressed to recognise.

• “I have opinions of my own - strong opinions - but I don't always agree with them.” ― George H.W. Bush

None of my own words can do that justice!

                                                                                    

And I’ll leave you with this one, which could be associated with my blogging to date:

• “Opinions vary.” ― Kira A. McFadden