Words of wisdom for blogging without worrying about number of likes
Vishnu Kant Srivastava & Arun Kumar
“You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions.”
Two friends (the authors), both above 60, one already retired and one contemplating retirement in near future, started discussing testing the waters of the world of blogging. Knowing very well that getting a toehold in the world of blogging is a herculean endeavor, the discussion turned somewhat philosophical towards can we engage in the practice of blogging for its own sake and not be worried about the thumbs up count?
Blogging for its own sake and not worrying about likes and thumbs ups? Is a dispassionate approach possible?
Can we engage in actions (which we have a control on) and not be overtly influenced by the outcomes (which are beyond our control)?
Well, considering some of us may be looking for meaningful engagements in our life after 30-years of work, i.e., life in retirement, can we feel engaged in writing blog posts without worrying about the scope of readership? Can we engage in an action, get fulfillment from the action and not be driven by results? After all, there is the old cliche that “the joy is in the journey and not about the destination”.
Pondering over these questions and having a discussion we remembered a passage in the Hindu scripture Bhgatwat Gita, where Lord Kirshna advises Arjuna in the middle of the battlefield when Arjuna’s resolve to carry forward with the battle (his action) starts to waiver because of outcomes it may lead to. Krishna says:
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन।
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि
The passage translates to “You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.”
Can we follow the ancient wisdom and not be concerned about the blog not going viral?
Going against the cliches and ancient wisdom, human psychology, unfortunately, works in different ways. Through our evolutionary process, we are geared for an action-reward paradigm. Actions that produce positive results tend to get repeated. Actions that result in negative (painful) consequences, are avoided in future. This feedback cycle, at the biological level, is one of the foundations of the evolutionary process. We are conditioned to responses to dopamine circulating in our brains, and anticipation of rewards that motivates us to act.
Going beyond purely the biological aspects of the action-reward paradigm and its being the guiding principle for natural selection, can the action-reward-habit feedback loop be overcome in more intellectual pursuits, like writing a blog?
After all, our capacity to think, our self-awareness raises us above merely being slaved to natural laws and we are capable of venturing beyond the guardrails of evolutionary process.
The motive for the two of us to write the blog post is not to generate a revenue stream, it is not seeking fame and glory. It is more for utilizing our signature strengths that served us well during the working life and use them to develop blog posts thereby creating an inner sense of accomplishment, a sense of having meaning and purpose in our retirement. With this context, blogging for us is an action without us being guided by our hopes for end results.
In an approach to answer this question, we can consider blogging (writing) as a performing art and draw parallels from that.
In the world of performance arts, during the course of any performance, we need resonators, applauders, who can continuously give support by way of thumbs up or some other such sign. Applauds provide positive feedback and accentuate performer’s confidence that things are moving in the correct direction.
Any performing art needs resonators. If a player is performing, the claps or roaring sounds of the audience gives confirmation to the performer. A dance that gets applause sustains the continuum of action from one step to the next.
The resonator, in other words, is meant to keep the tempo high and helps the performer in the right direction. We could see such things in fights also, where the fighter does the actions (and is the performer) and there is the audience to give resonance to those actions.
Resonators, therefore, are an integral part of a successful performer and their progress.
In the world of internet and blogging, the resonators are in virtual space, but nevertheless they are there. A stream of thumbs up and likes, sustains and encourages the blogger; they are the motivators.
Thinking blogging as a possible engagement during retirement as an act of performing art does not help in not hoping for having a large following.
So where does that leave us? To blog or not to blog without worrying about its outcome? After initial enthusiasm, after a while, will we get discouraged in our pursuit?
The answer may be to go back to constantly reminding ourselves of words by Lord Krishna to Arjuna “You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions”.
Krishna’s advice should be interpreted the right way that though we own our actions (karmas) — mainly choices only — we don’t have a right to ask for the desired results out of those actions.
Having said that, it doesn’t at all mean that we cannot or should not think about the possible results, our actions are going to bring about and minimize the maximum harmful results that it can entail by virtue of our action. As a couplet by an Indian poet Giridhar Kavirai says
बिना बिचारे जो करे, सो पाछे पछ्ताए |
काम बिगाड़े आपनो, जग में होत हसाय |
Whosoever does anything without thinking, will regret afterwards. He spoils his work, and the world laughs at him.
Therefore, action is to be performed keeping its outcomes in mind. Once done, one should not indulge in its results to keep oneself away from the other required doings.
The other important point which can be noticed is second line of Krishna’s gospel to Arjuna, which is very important : मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.
At the age we are at, we are not typical performers. We are not after fame and glory. We are not after monetizing our efforts. And further, we have the luxury and freedom of trying and failing. We have nothing to prove.
At our age, we can plant a tree without worrying about whether we will see it bear fruits. The alternative to not choosing this path is inaction. The choice is ours.
And come to think of this, the same attitude is also valuable for other aspects in our life.
And so, you may keep seeing occasional blog posts. Of course, if you press the like button, we will feel a tingle of happiness!!
