Hey You

Hey You. Yes, you, the one reading these very words right this moment. Can I ask you a question? I will take the fact that you are still reading these words as a yes. Why did you select this particular story to read? You may have already answered the question with the first thing that popped into your head. Maybe it was something like, I don't know, or, who cares, or why is this stupid story asking me to think? Or, more likely you have already simply clicked away to something else more interesting. Then again if you are still reading these very words I know that is not the case. So, my next question becomes, why have you not clicked away already? Basically you are faced with two questions, why did you select this particular story to read and why are you still reading it? As to the first question I urge you to take a moment to stop and take a deep breath and think a bit more deeply about it. Consider, of all the things you could be doing at this very moment; potentially productive, useful, helpful, or in some way beneficial to yourself or the universe as a whole things, you have chosen to do this one thing. Read this random story written by a random stranger on a random website. In terms of time management it seems like a pretty poor choice. And yet, here you are still. If you are still here reading these words. What is it that has made you stick with it all the way to the end of this first paragraph. A paragraph, that I will remind you right now basically said nothing and did nothing. It told no story, it provided no philosophically interesting insights, it gave no tips for how to live a better life or to be a better person. It did none of those things. It did absolutely nothing. But yet, if you are still reading these words, it has done something. It has kept your interest and focus for at least the minute or so that it has taken you to make it this far. All the way to the end of paragraph number one.

As I begin paragraph number two I guess what I ultimately asking you is, what is it exactly you want to read? Because, I promise you, I can write it. I can write just about anything, write about anything, write in almost any style or format or tone, or even in none at all. But, in the close to seven years I have been writing and publishing regularly I have still yet to find that one thing you really want to read. Despite the fact that I have published in almost every writing genre and oeuvre known to man, and invented a fairly large number of my own genres in the process, I have not yet managed to find that one thing that you are looking for. The thing that would make you come back to find more, the one thing that would make you say, damn, that dude is a fucking good ass writer. He writes some interesting and thoughtful shit. Shit that really makes me think and makes me want to read more. In fact, his shit is so good, I might even consider spending some of my hard earned money to read it. Well, maybe let's not go that far, I mean what dumbass would pay money to read some bullshit on the internet. I am not that much of a sucker, but still, some pretty damn good stuff.

Maybe there is no such thing. Maybe that is the problem. There is no such thing that you really want to read. You read because you feel you must or for no reason at all. You select things to read basically at random, start reading them, and either stick it out until the end or click away to something more interesting the moment you get bored or tired, or for no reason at all. Just because that is what you do. You click and read and click and read and click and read. I'll give you credit, at least you are doing the reading part. I think many people just click and click and click and click and skip the whole painful thought and effort requiring reading part. I will end this third and final paragraph by asking you the same question I started with. what is it exactly you want to read? Clearly it wasn't this? Was it? Now that's a head scratcher isn't it?