Thursday, August 6, 2009

I don't have to like everything about you

11 Cloned Men Went To Mow, Went To Mow A Meadow !Image by Bobasonic via Flickr

Chris is a gamer and writes about it on his blog. A lot. I'm not a gamer, so I don't care. So in essence, I have to "put up with" Chris' writing about gaming.

Tyler likes to rant on his blog. A lot. I don't have the same passions as he does, so I don't care. So in essence, I have to "put up with" Tyler's ranting on issues that aren't important to me.

Teel loves to post long-winded personal exposes on his blog. A lot. As I only want to see where he's at with his latest project, I don't care about those posts. So in essence, I have to "put up with" super long posts just to get what I want.

But here's the bottom line: I don't tell them about what I don't like. The last thing I want is for them only to be, do and write the things I like 100% of the time. That's... boring. In reality, I'm not "putting up with" any of it from any of them. I'm letting them be who they are. Who they want to be. Occasionally -- often, in fact -- what they want and what I want align perfectly. And I quickly forget all those other things I didn't care about before.

In the immortal words of Billy Joel:

Don't go changing, to try and please me,
You never let me down before,
Don't imagine, you're too familiar,
And I don't see you anymore.

I would not leave you, in times of trouble,
We never could have come this far,
I took the good times, I'll take the bad times,
I'll take you just the way you are.




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6 comments:

  1. Good stuff evo. Great reminder that we are all different but come together because of what we like in each other. Remember that and focus on it in all of your interactions with people.

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  2. But isn't it great when you find one obsessive freak who only writes about one specific subject and takes it to depths you thought unimaginable? Isn't it better when you are into that obsession as well? Reminds me of a talk by Merlin Mann and John Gruber about the point of blogging, becoming "the expert" in one particular subject.

    http://www.43folders.com/2009/03/25/blogs-turbocharged

    My blog is all over the place, and I tend to agree with you. But maybe that's the reason why my blog isn't super popular :)

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  3. This is a *perfect* rule for everyone to follow.

    Otherwise, I am stuck hearing how sucky mortgage guys are every time I see everyone.

    Or...

    Maybe I should start blogging about stuff that at least *some* people like.

    Including me!

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  4. Don't listen to him. He hangs on every post I write.

    Sharing like this is important. For all you writers, communicators and speakers out there, please read this. Then read it again.

    And then realize it's not personal.

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  5. I've heard Merlin Mann's talk, and if your goal is to become well known in a subject area, it makes a lot of sense. I've had an inner battle about whether to segment the things I like into many blogs, but at the end of the day, I'm not writing to become an expert on gaming, or coding, or writing. I'm writing my blog to share what's going on in my life, and if folks are interested, that's great. If not, that's cool too.

    I tend to value an authentic voice more than someone pushing a single point of view. Even if I'm not in to everything they write about. At worst, I ignore the post. At best, I learn something new, and I find something to go check out. Discovery has it's place.

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  6. Very well said, it is also said that having variety in your life is a good thing. I hang out with many folks, disagree with most on a number of things, we have rules that we don't talk about certain things..too much other things to have fun on and with. Good job on the article.. now wait mortgages suck??

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