Are Bloggers Better Observers? - Part 2

I think my original question deserves a tad of elaboration. Java has added his take on the question here and he says that he thinks the question would have been more sensical if it had been posed in reverse i.e are (good) observers better bloggers? Can a question be "sensical"? I'm not sure, it could be that I've made that word up, but I think it makes sense, or is sensical.

When I posed the original question I was actually thinking about myself (which no doubt suprises you) and the way in which having a blog has actually changed the way I observe things that happen around me. I'm sure Java is right when he says that good observers make better bloggers but my thinking was about whether I have become more interested in things around me since I started LLD.

The answer is a definite "Yes". As Sach commented in the original post

"I don't know if it is possible to make a categorical statement about all bloggers but I have become a better observer since I started blogging. But I don't think being a blogger necessarily makes you a good observer because the best observers I know are people who probably don't even know what blogs are."

For me it's as if I had gone through my pre blog life enjoying things and living them thoroughly but, once I started blogging, there was a film in the camera. I now look at things and pay attenton to details and nuances that I barely used to even notice. I have quite a fear of becoming one of those bloggers who I don't really want to emulate; the ones who live a boring life but blog about it in an exciting way, kind of living by proxy.

It's all about Venn diagrams I think. Some bits overlap, some don't. In my case writing a blog has made me look at things in different ways. If I had been a highly insightful observer all my life then I probably would have written a book, or at least tried to write one, ages ago. There must be many who are great observers but who wouldn't be able to describe those observations and there must be many who are great writers but don't observe things well.

It also must depend on the type of blog a fellow writes. Take D of ViceUnVersa as an example. His blog is centred around advertising, unlike his previous incarnation, which was much closer to the "pimped up diary" (copyright Blacker c.2008) approach that many take. I'm sure D spends much of his time observing ads and thinking about them, evaluating them and going off on creative tangents. But does he spend much of his normal day to day time pondering on the mysteries of life in general? I don't know actually. He may be a bad example as I've just remembered that his book blog thing is full of highly insightful and observational writing.

So, moving forwards back to the original question leads me to conclude that I'm a much better observer since I started blogging. That's it. I don't know about you and I don't think that being a blogger necessarily makes you a better observer.

But I am.

Unless of course someone breaks into my house and I don't notice because I'm so busy writing a blog post. That would be ironic.