The EE Mission

I've been reading, "Roadside Crosses" by Jeffrey Deaver. In typical Deaver fashion, it's given a good education, as well as a good mystery.

In "Crosses", a body language expert is attempting to solve a mystery where roadside crosses are left at sites BEFORE a death. Therefore, the accidents aren't accidents. Yet, there's so much more to the story, including cyber bullying, blogs and flaming wars.

One element of the story is a blog that is at the tipping point of getting international acclaim. While the body language expert interviews the blogger, she sees how important the noteriety is to him. One of her detectives has also given her a lesson in the psychology of bloggers; that many are ego driven wannabe journalists who want to be respected for their opinions and viewpoints.

First off, EVERYONE wants their opinion and viewpoint respected. I may have to beg to differ a bit with the idea of bloggers as wannabe journalists. Still, I see that point.

One other thing that, unbeknownst to this blogger, is that bloggers want other blogs to link to theirs, thereby boosting their legitimacy. Fair enough. It's a popularity contest, not that unlike having loads of friends on Facebook.

For this blogger of the last five years, if I were to fall into the mold of other bloggers, I should probably make more ado about Engel's Ensights. Yet? I've not taken great pains to promote it. My thoughts? If people like my point of view and writing style, they'll seek it out. I don't want to be known as a big time blogger as much as a big time speaker and author. And author of books, not blogs.

I guess that goes back to the mission statement of this blog: it's an extension of my monthly newsletter, also known as Engel's Ensights. And the point of that? To provide a motivational story or insights that help readers find hope and goodness in their own lives. Hopefully, those small realizations will help to improve the lives of those reading my schtuff.