Growing roots one post at a time

Via Susan Mernit, from a post by Steven Madoff:

There’s a smart and sensitive piece today at New West by Leon Sterling about what he calls “e-feelings.” He’s talking about the urge to communicate through blogs, through e-mail, through participatory journalism (which is exactly what his post is on the New West site). And he worries: “Today, our beliefs are like fireflies – they shine for a few brief moments, but then they disappear, and no one knows where they went.”

The Sterling article didn’t grab me (Leon, I read what you wrote, even though I suspect we’ve got quite different politics), but the ‘urge to communicate’ Madoff mentioned does. Why do we bother? Fine, for functional reasons – to advance our careers. But there’s also psychological reasons for this type of communication. Graphomania, perhaps – quoting Milan Kundera at length, this abandoned blog has already done my work for me. (Also see here.) Also, the need to make roots. Rootedness is key.

The pace of change has accelerated; our social institutions have been made increasingly fluid. We move from one spot to another borne by only the most minor of circumstances. One second you live in San Jose, the next you’re in New York. Married, then not, then married again. Thought you were going to be an electrical engineer? Surprise! Thought you were going to be a historian of some sort? Surprise! While these are just examples from my own life, I’m sure everybody’s got a few of their own. Our beliefs are ‘like fireflies’ not because no one records them, but because they’re that fluid – a chance event could change them at any time.

In the midst of this disorientation – this fundamental lightness – one naturally wants to lay down something a little more permanent. By writing – and using that writing to enter and participate in a community – a person can attempt to solidify their position. I think we’re especially prone to do this when we’re in a good place – when the lightness I’m talking about really is unbearable (back to Kundera); when the thought of being swept away from our current spot fills us with dread. The communities we build around us can trick us into feelings of well-rootedness.

I suspect many dot-com folk write about the Internet because our jobs are the aspects of our lives which are ultimately least secure; it’s here where we feel the greatest need to grow roots.