દ્રષ્ટિકોણ 101: માર્ક ટ્વેઇન ની સફર

 

મહિનાના બીજા અથવા ત્રીજા શનિવારે આ કોલમ પ્રકાશિત થશે અને તેમાં જુદા જુદા વિષયો ઉપર અને વિવિધ દ્રષ્ટિકોણ થી વાતો થશે. તો આજે એક નવા વિષય ઉપર વાતો કરીએ.  આ પહેલાના દ્રષ્ટિકોણ વિષય ઉપર મારા 51 લેખ શબ્દોનું સર્જન બ્લોગ ઉપર સમાપ્ત થયા છે. મારા અને બીજા અન્ય લેખકોના લેખ ત્યાં વાંચવા મળશે. 

 

જીવન માં આપણે કૈંક ને કૈંક  શોધતા હોઈએ છીએ. કોઈકને પ્રેમ ની શોધ હોય તો કોઈક નું જીવન  પૈસા, નામના કે મોક્ષ મેળવવાની શોધ માં વીતે। તે પ્રમાણે હેન્રી મિલર ના કહેવા અનુસાર લેખન ને પણ એક શોધ ની સફર માની શકાય. ઉપરાંત મિલર કહે છે કે લેખક લખવાના કાર્ય માં એક માર્ગ અપનાવે છે પણ આખરે લેખક પોતે જ એક માર્ગ બની જાય છે. આ તેમણે લેખન ઉપર ખુબ જ વિચારવાલાયક અને ઉમદા વાત કહી છે. 

 

આજે તેમણે કહેલ વાત ને લઈને એક ખુબ જાણીતા લેખક વિષે થોડી વાત કરવા માંગુ છું. માર્ક ટ્વેઇન અમેરિકા ના ખુબ મોટા લેખક અને તે ઉપરાંત પ્રકાશક, ઉદ્યોગ સાહસિક, વિનોદી, અને રમૂજ કરાવનાર વ્યક્તિ તરીકે જાણીતા છે. અલબત્ત, તેમના વિષે  કહેવાયું છે કે તે આ દેશમાં સૌથી વધુ રમુજી વ્યક્તિ છે. વિલિયમ ફોકનર, જેમને લેખન માટે નોબેલ પ્રાઈઝ મળેલી છે તેમણે માર્ક ટ્વેઇન વિષે કહેલું કે ટ્વેઇન “અમેરિકન લેખન સાહિત્યના પિતા સમાન છે”.

 

આ દેશના ઉમદા નસીબ હતા કે ટ્વેઇન ને લેખન સાથે સફર નો પણ શોખ હતો. તેમણે થોડો સમય મિસિસિપી નદી ઉપર કામ કરવામાં વિતાવેલ।  સેમ્યુઅલ ક્લેમેન્સ નામે જન્મેલ તેમણે તેમનું માર્ક ટ્વેઇન ઉપનામ આ નદી ઉપરજ અપનાવ્યું। માર્ક ટ્વેઇન ઉપનામ નો અર્થ છે કે જયારે બોટ 12 ફૂટ ઊંડા પાણી ઉપર હોય તે માર્ક ને માર્ક ટ્વેઇન કહેવાય છે અને તેટલી ઊંડાઈ બોટ માટે સુરક્ષિત ગણાય છે. 

 

મિસિસિપી નદી મિનેસોટા થી નીકળીને 2320 માઈલ, અમેરિકા ના 10 સ્ટેટ માંથી વહીને અંતે  ગલ્ફ ઓફ મેક્સિકો માં ઠલવાય છે. આ નદી ઉપર ટ્વેઈને બોટ ચલાવતા બારીકાઈથી નદીના કિનારે રહેતા લોકો અને તેમની રહેણીકહેણી નું નિરીક્ષણ કર્યું। તેમના વિચારોમાં પણ બદલાવ આવ્યો અને તેમના લેખન દ્વારા વાચકોને અમેરિકાની સાંસ્કૃતિક લેન્ડસ્કેપ વિષે જાણવા મળે છે. 

 

ટ્વેઈને કહેલું કે “મુસાફરી પૂર્વગ્રહ માટે જીવલેણ છે”. તેનો મતલબ કે તમે સફર કરતા, વિવિધ લોકો ના સંપર્ક માં આવો અને તેમના વિષે જાણો અને સંબંધ કેળવો, તે સાથે સાથે તમારું દ્રષ્ટિકોણ પણ વિકસે છે અને કોઈજ પૂર્વગ્રહ ટકી શકતા નથી. ટ્વેઇન ના લખાણ માં નદી કિનારે વસતા અને નદી ઉપર કામ કરતા પાઇલોટ,  ખેડૂતો, તેમની પત્નીઓ, જુગારીઓ, નેટિવ અમેરિકનો, બ્લેક અમેરિકનો, મોટા ઝાડ કાપનાર લમ્બરજેક્સ વગેરે નો ઉલ્લેખ છે અને તેમના જીવન વિષે  જાણવા મળે છે. 

 

સાલ 1985 માં ટ્વેઇન ની મશહૂર નવલકથા “ધ એડવેન્ચર્સ ઓફ હક્લબેરી ફિન” પ્રસિદ્ધ થઇ. ટુંકાણ માં ભૂમિકા કહું તો હક નામના છોકરા ઉપર દયા ખાઈને મિસ ડગ્લાસ તેને ઘરે લઇ ગઈ. હક ની મુલાકાત ત્યાં જિમ કરીને એક  સ્લેવ (ગુલામ)સાથે થઇ. તે સમયે આ દેશમાં મોટા બદલાવ ની હવા ફૂંકાઈ રહી હતી અને બ્લેક અમેરિકનો આઝાદી મેળવવા માટે દક્ષિણ માંથી તેમના મલિક ને છોડીને ઉત્તર તરફ પ્રયાણ કરતા હતા. જીમે પણ તેની માલકણ બાઈને છોડીને ઉત્તર તરફ ભાગવાનો નિર્ણય કર્યો અને હક તે સફર માં જિમ સાથે જોડાયો। આ સફર માં હક અને જિમ વિખુટા પડી ગયા, ફરી મળ્યા અને તેઓએ સાહસ ખેડ્યાં અને વિરોધીઓનો સામનો કર્યો। 

 

આમ જોઈએ તો આ એક બાળવાર્તા છે. પણ તેનું અર્થઘટન કરતા વિવેચકો કહે છે કે ટ્વેઈને પોતે તેમના જીવનકાળ દરમિયાન નિરીક્ષણ કરીને જોયેલ સમાજના વિવિધ પાસાઓ ને રમૂજી રીતે વણી લીધા છે. તેટલુંજ નહિ પણ વારંવાર હક ને સત્ય અને જૂઠ, આડંબર અને પ્રામાણિકતા જેવા સિદ્ધાંતો વચ્ચે થી પસાર થઇ ને પોતાનો માર્ગ  કાઢવાનો હોય છે. જેમ કે એકવાર હક કહે છે “પપ્પા હંમેશાં કહેતા હતા કે જો તમે પાછી આપવાના હો તો શાંતિથી કોઈની વસ્તુઓ ઉધાર લઈએ છીએ તેમ માની ને લઇ લેવામાં કોઈ હાનિ નથી. પરંતુ માલકણ કહે છે કે કોઈને પૂછ્યા વિના કંઈપણ લેવું તે ચોરી કર્યા બરોબર જ છે”. ગરીબ અને અશિક્ષિત હક નું પાત્ર આ રીતે સફર કરતા અને જિંદગીના વિઘ્નોમાંથી પસાર થતા થતા ઘડાય છે અને વાસ્તવિક સફર સાથે આ તેના જીવનના સિદ્ધાંતો ની શોધ ની પણ સફર છે.  આ લખાણ માં માર્ક ટ્વેઈને તેમની સફર, તેમણે મિસિસિપી નદી ઉપર માણેલ મોજ, અને નદીનું આબેહૂબ વર્ણન તો કર્યું જ છે. પણ સાથે સાથે આ લેખન માં તેમણે જીવન ના સિદ્ધાંતો જે જિંદગીને એક નિશ્ચિત દિશા બતાવે છે તેમને પણ અનોખી ખૂબી થી વણી લીધા છે. 

 

હેન્રી મિલરે કહેલું કે – “કોઈ પણ સફર નું લક્ષ્ય એક સ્થાને પહોંચવાનું નથી હોતું પરંતુ સફર નું મહત્વ એક નવી દ્રષ્ટિ અપનાવવાનું હોય છે”. અને તેમના કહેવા અનુસાર લેખક માહિતી તો પીરસે જ છે પરંતુ ઘણીવાર તે માહિતીને નોલેજ અને વિઝડમ માં બદલાવવાની કોશિશ કરે છે. માર્ક ટ્વેઈને માહિતી સાથે અને રમૂજ સાથે અમેરિકાને ઘણું શાણપણ (વિઝડમ) આપ્યું છે. 

Fiona Ma (Assemblywoman & Campaigner against Hepatitis B) to speak at Health Technology Forum Conference

Hepatitis B Virus (Photo credit: AJC1)

Hepatitis B (HBV) virus is a very common virus worldwide.   Approximately, 1.2 million people in the United States are affected by this virus.  Almost 350 million people worldwide, are living with Hepatitis B.  Many people with Hepatitis B are likely to be infected at birth or in early childhood, and due to lack of immediate attention, have developed a lifelong chronic infection.   Hepatitis B is a contagious liver disease that is commonly spread through blood, semen, or other body fluids.  Most people do not experience symptoms until it is too late.  The virus causes 80% of all liver cancers, if left untreated.  Hepatitis B can be prevented with vaccination.  And with immediate attention and monitoring with nutrition, fluids, and medical supervision, acute Hep B can also be effectively treated.

Fiona Ma, incumbent democratic candidate for State Board of Equalization, a reputed politician and a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, California State Assembly, is a tireless campaigner and spokesperson for “San Francisco Hepatitis B Free” campaign.  San Francisco has the highest concentration of Hep B in the country.  Ma herself learned that she had Hep B, when she was 22.  She acquired it from her mother, who had acquired it from her mother.  About 1 in every 10 Asian Americans, is infected with the virus.  Ma’s mother had developed liver scars and having caught that early, had it removed.

English: California State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fiona Ma will be giving keynote address at Health Technology Innovation Forum annual conference on May, 20 at Parc 55, Wyndham Hotel, SF.  The conference is focused on exploring pathways to sustainable health through various means including “best practices for globally underserved”, through “gamification” and “patient engagement”, and through “building resilient communities for better outcomes”.  Traditionally, this conference is heavily attended by physicians from UCSF, as well as entrepreneurs focused on healthcare breakthroughs.  Please register for the conference at http://www.healthtechnologyforum.com , as my friend, with the discount code “HTF14-FriendOfOrganizer” and send me your first & last name at wd_darshana at hotmail dot com, to get $150 off the price of the ticket.

 

Please note other upcoming events below – dates & deadlines.

1) Register for #TiEcon at link https://www.123signup.com/register?id=dbnfb&ref=4182698  as my guest & enter promo code tievalue to get $100 discount. If you are an entrepreneur, I would say this is the conference, you don’t want to miss.  Check out great agenda, top notch speakers & panelists on #IoT, #bigdata, #cloud, and #Healthcare tracks at http://www.tiecon.org.

3) Feel free to send me an email for any of these events at wd_darshana at hotmail dot com and you can follow my updates on Twitter @DarshanaN.  Also, do check out (in JOBS category on this blog), my job opportunities that include many Quality Engineering jobs in CA and MA and hot Software Embedded Engineer job and more.

Steve Mollenkopf, CEO, Qualcomm to give Grand Keynote at TiEcon 2014

TiEcon, the largest entrepreneurship conference, will focus this year on four industry focused tracks, Internet of Things, Big Data, Cloud Infrastructure, and Healthcare. (Please register through this link as my guest https://www.123signup.com/register?id=dbnfb&ref=4182698 and enter promo code tievalue to get a $100 discount).

Steve Mollenkopf, President and CEO of Qualcomm, will give grand keynote address, on day 1.  With a background in electrical engineering, Mollenkopf holds patents in “power estimation and measurement, multi-standard transmitter system, and wireless communication transceiver technology.”  He has spent his entire 20+ year career at Qualcomm.  Previously, he led the chip set business at Qualcomm and helped make Qualcomm the world’s largest mobile chipset supplier and global leader in LTE technology.  Mollenkopf also led the company’s largest acquisition of Atheros, purchased at $3.1 billion, a deal that helped expand Qualcomm’s business beyond smartphones and enabled and speeded adoption of Qualcomm’s technologies and platforms in new segments.

Qualcomm logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Qualcomm makes over $25 billion each year, in revenues, powering world’s smartphones and tablets.  Qualcomm may not be a lean and mean startup, but it is a technology driven company.  Mollenkopf is entrepreneurial in nature and a self-proclaimed gadget freak.  Entrepreneurs at TiEcon will be waiting to hear Mollenkopf’s perspectives on opportunities in mobile space.  Will he share any new industry leading innovations in the pipeline, at Qualcomm?

TiEcon 2014 is shaping up to be fantastic entrepreneurship focused conference, with awesome panels and speakers.  Please register through this link as my guest https://www.123signup.com/register?id=dbnfb&ref=4182698 and enter promo code tievalue to get a $100 discount.

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Other Life Science focused events

1) Register for Health Tech Forum annual conference on May 20, at www.healthtechnologyforum.com.  With a theme of “Pathways to Sustainable Health”, the conference will bring together physicians, entrepreneurs, payers, and providers with an aim to empower quality of health.
2) Michelle Chen from DNAtrix, Inc. will talk on “Developing Oncolytic Virus to Treat Glioblastoma” on Tuesday, April, 29, 8:30am.  This is a free event – all are welcome – http://www.bio2devicegroup.org.
3) Dr. Sarvajna Dwivedi, founder of Pearl Therapeutics will talk on Tuesday, May 6 at Cubberley, PA www.eppicglobal.org.  Pearl Therapeutics was acquired by Astra Zeneca last year, for $1.15 B and was a winner of TiEcon’s TiE50 awards, two years in a row.
4) Feel free to send me an email for details on any of these events at wd_darshana at hotmail dot com.  You can also follow my updates on Twitter @DarshanaN.  Also, do check out (in JOBS category on this blog), my job opportunities that include many Quality Engineering jobs in CA and MA and hot Software Embedded Engineer job and more.

 

 

 

Healthcare Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, CA

Life Science Industry gearing up for Innovation:  Code-a-thon (Health Technology Forum), TiEcon, EPPIC event

Code-a-thons are fun and also highly productive live events that bring together developers, designers, innovators and entrepreneurs, brimming with new and exciting ideas on applications and tools for any given problem.  Health Technology Forum in San Francisco was formed with a mission to improve healthcare through technology.  In 2013, HTF organized a very successful code-a-thon that focused on serving the needs of the underserved populations. This year again, HTF has organized a code-a-thon to precede (by about a week to 10 days) its annual conference focused around the theme of Pathways to Sustainable Health, on May 20, at Parc 55, Wyndham Hotel, SF.  Additionally, HTF has proposed a series of events to follow the weekend code-a-thon challenge, including a unique second phase to enable the winning team to be placed on-site at one or more safety-net hospitals.  

DC Health Week Code-a-Thon 13109 (Photo credit: tedeytan)

So how do code-a-thons help spur innovation?  These short and focused events often result in the rapid development of breakthrough concepts and working prototype applications.  Code-a-thons highlight a problem in need of a solution.  This spotlighting of the problem, with clarity around its challenges and opportunities, helps the problem to remain the primary focus of innovation, and not the technology.  This is a good mental discipline for enthusiastic bright innovators who tend to fall in love with their own idea, and often fail to pay heed to the needs of the market.  The ideas and technologies that come out of code-a-thons often lead to creation of actual products that can be deployed in the marketplace.  Further, if these innovators would receive coaching from stakeholders within the hospital centers then it is inevitable that the positive impact will be enormous and immediate, in creating new innovative solutions, for sustainable healthcare. Few can argue that our healthcare system needs an overhaul, and something that will greatly impact the transformation in the healthcare system is the impact that Big Data will have.  For instance, Big Data can help empower patients to be in charge of their own health.  From providing access to their medical records, to enabling continuous health monitoring, it will help inform and empower patients to be proactive managers of their own health.  Similarly, mounds of clinical and epidemiological data can lead to greater insights in diagnosis and therapeutics of various diseases.  The requirements of this particular code-a-thon will be centered around developing and designing the prototype of an app that supports the collection and communication of health care data about key diseases and behaviors. Please stay tuned for more information, and sign up for the code-a-thon and for the annual conference at www.healthtechnologyforum.com and follow them on twitter @healthtechforum.  You can follow me on twitter @DarshanaN.

Additionally, mark your calendar for 2 other interesting life science events.
May 16, 17 is #TiEcon 2014, the largest entrepreneurship conference, at Santa Clara Convention Center, CA.  The Healthcare Track on Day 2 will feature panels on exciting topics like “Harnessing Healthcare Data”, “Engaging Patients of the Future”, “Where the VCs are Investing in Healthcare” and more.  Register by May 1, for  www.tiecon.org through the link http://tinyurl.com/kr2hkcw as my guest and enter promo code tievalue to get $100 off.
May, 6 EPPIC event – EPPIC frequently spotlights success stories of local entrepreneurs and on My 6 at Cubberley in Palo Alto, will host Dr. Sarvajna Dwivedi, Founder of Pearl Therapeutics which was acquired last year, by Astra Zeneca for $1.15 B.  Register at www.eppicglobal.org.
http://www.bio2devicegroup.org is a group that meets every Tuesday, in Sunnyvale and hosts speakers on a wide range of healthcare topics.  Pre-registration required for “Second Tuesday of the month meetings” and all other meetings are free and open for walk-ins.  For information on any of these events, feel free to send me an email at wd_darshana at hotmail dot com.

 

Rapid Non-Invasive Treatment for Stroke

Dr. Mark Borsody, Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Nervive Inc, spoke about stroke healthcare, at www.bio2devicegroup.org event.

Stroke has been a #1 cause of severe disability, #2 cause of death in the world (responsible for more than 5 million deaths, each year), and it is 4^th leading cause of death in the US.  About 800,000 people in the US have stroke, each year.  One American dies from stroke, about every 4 minutes.  In fact, stroke is responsible for putting the biggest healthcare burden, worldwide and the burden is likely to increase in the foreseeable future, said Dr. Borsody.  Stroke results from “plumbing problem”, in the brain.  Ischemic stroke is caused by blockage of a blood vessel due to reasons like thrombosis or arterial embolism.  Hemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding of blood vessels of the brain, either directly into the brain or into the surrounding brain tissue.

While treatment options for hemorrhagic stroke are limited, current treatment options for ischemic stroke include intravenous “clot busting” through tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) or through endovascular catheter devices for blood clot retrieval.  Worldwide, an estimated 180,000 tPA treatments are done every year and 22,000 clot retrieval treatments are done.

Microphotograph of HE stained section of human brain tissue upon acute ischemic stroke. Orgininal magnification 400x (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Honing in on the major problem, Dr. Borsody discussed why do so few patients with stroke receive timely treatment.  Timely intervention is the key for treatment of stroke.  Like all cells in the body, neurons and other brain cells require oxygen and glucose delivered through the blood in order to function and survive.  A few minutes of oxygen deprivation can kill millions of neurons.  Additionally, stroke can provoke inflammation, swelling (edema), and other processes that can continue the damage for hours or days after the initial attack.  However, often treatment of stroke within 60 minutes is very rare due to the time required for patient transportation and in-hospital evaluation.  Effective treatment for stroke can be simple, but it needs to be immediate.  So how come there aren’t many innovations to bring the treatment to the patient, even to buy them some time?

Nervive’s Vital Flow Stimulator is a simple device that is aimed at targeting the facial nerve behind the middle ear.  The objective is to control the cerebral arteries through the facial nerve, which regulates the function of the arteries.  It is comprised of 3-4 cm coil placed over the ear.  Magnetic fields readily penetrate any tissue and creates electrical currents in neural tissues, leading to axonal and soma depolarization.  Early indications are that it is effective in treating ischemic stroke and it is safe in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.  This device is moreover, simple enough to use without any special training.  Vital Flow complements other therapies and bring exponential benefits of rapid treatments.  The device will be inexpensive, portable, and extremely easy to transport in the ambulance.  The treatment can be administered within a few minutes.  Animal studies show increased blood flow after facial nerve stimulation and improvement in several measures after stroke.

Ending his talk, Dr. Borsody said, Nervive has a strong IP position, the technology is targeting a market with huge potential, and it is substantiated by preclinical and clinical science.  They are starting fund raising for series A round.  To emerge from the dark ages of stroke healthcare, we need some disruptive, out of box (out of hospital) thinking, said Dr Borsody.
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Mark your calendars for following events……..

May, 6 – EPPIC will host Dr. Sarvajna Dwivedi, Founder, Pearl Therapeutics that was acquired by Astra Zeneca for $1.15B, last year.  Register at http://www.eppicglobal.org, @EPPIC_GLOBAL
May 16, 17 – #TiEcon 2014 will feature Healthcare Track to showcase and discuss new innovative technologies in Life Science and healthcare industries, @TiEcon
May, 2014 – Healthcare Code-a-thon will be hosted by http://www.healthtechnologyforum.com @HealthTechForum
May 20, 2014 – “Pathways to Sustainable Health” conference hosted by http://www.healthtechnologyforum.com
You can follow me on Twitter at @DarshanaN
Every Tuesday exciting speaker – http://www.bio2devicegroup.org

 

On Writing a Blog Part II – Why you should write a blog

This blog is part ii of series or 3 blogs.  In part I, focused on “When NOT to Write A Blog” – http://bit.ly/13MqJFh.   In this part II, I will focus on When to write a blog and what you gain from blogging, and in part III I will focus on “How to Market A Blog” and will be posting it in few days.

Top 10 reasons, you must start blogging.

No. 10 – You have ongoingly information to share that will resolve a pain point for consumers/ buyers/ sellers etc.
If you are knowledgeable about some technical aspects that could help people make better decisions for the products they want to buy, or regarding food choices, regarding their health etc. then you should blog.  If you have technical information that can help people solve their technical challenges and you are able to demonstrate that effectively with step by step directions then you should blog.  Similarly, if you have information about cars, cameras and more that can help people and you can clearly write about it then please consider writing a blog.

No. 9 – You absolutely cannot help yourself.
If your need for self-expression is so strong, you absolutely need to share, then you should become a blogger because this is an easiest medium to share your perspectives.  For instance, one day early in the morning, I had put on some music and was dancing, rather vigorously and I bashed into my living room wall, and broke my toe.  The pain was immediate and intense.  I sat down and then crawled to my desk and with the support stood up and sat on the chair.  Then I was thinking if I should call a friend, yell to wake up my daughter, hobble to get ice and through it all the humor of how it happened struck me.  Instantly, I though of a poem http://bit.ly/XOemzn and I had to write it and post it on the blog. The urge to write and share a poem became stronger than the impending need to alleviate the pain and stop the swelling that was fast ballooning.  You may not be world’s best writer, but if you must share then blog is the best medium J and you can ignore everything else said in part 1 about When NOT to write a blog.

No. 8 – Your urge to share your perspectives is consistent and frequent.
Sometimes, you see a wonderful movie and you want to share how absolutely delightful the movie was or you visit a gorgeous site and you want to share with others and tell them that they must visit the site and that may make you feel that you need to blog about it.  For instance, I had to share about #lifeofpi – http://bit.ly/XizQZL or #BhaagMilkhaBhaag – http://bit.ly/1cUwG4o .  However, if this only happened once in a while, then blog may not be the best medium.  Or, you might be delighted but you may express it lamely in writing then writing may not be the best channel.  But for the most part, if you are yearning to share your experience, then you should consider writing a blog.

No. 7 – Your access to materials worth sharing is frequent.
For instance, if you love to write movie reviews and want to blogg about it then you should be watching a lot of movies.  If you want to write book reviews on your blog then you should be reading a lot of books; if you want to write about technology, then should be constantly accessing/ researching newer technologies and so on.  I attend a lot of conferences and talks and write previews of upcoming talks or reviews of the events and talks at www.bio2devicegroup.org, www.eppicglobal.org, www.jpmorgan.com, www.tiecon.org and so on.  I also love live theater and write a lot of play reviews and attend shows at www.theatreworks.org, www.cltc.org, www.sjrep.com, www.shadyshakes.org, www.naatak.org, www.thestage.org and so on.  You might focus exclusively on sharing your own perspectives but share them with creativity and originality.

No. 6 – You are not targeting your friends to be your primary blog audience.
You have to target more broadly, outside of the circle of your friends.  Even if you are a great blogger, all your friends will not have the same interests as you do.  Although, your good friends will read, comment, give feedback, and will encourage you, so do share with your friends, but without pestering them, where they feel compelled to read your blog.  I am forever indebted to my friends for bringing so much joy in my life that enables me to create a space for writing and here is my gratitude blog – http://bit.ly/ZaXuYj .

No. 5 – You have plans to market your blog.
I will write more on this in the last segment on how to market your blog.  But remember that writing a blog is not like writing a diary.  You want people to read and take interest in what you have to say.  And only way people can do that is if they have access to what you have to say.  As I have already said earlier, targeting your friends solely as your blog audience, is not a good strategy for long term health and vitality of your blog.  (By the way, if you wish to follow me, my twitter handle is @DarshanaN and tweet the links to all my blogs).

No. 4 – You are actively accessing/ researching wide range of information.
One engaging discussion about some political topic and a perspective you want to share, may not make a good reason for starting a blog.  Yes, people do that sometimes.  But good blogs with wide viewership, come from bloggers who are doing wider research and share perspectives with more depth and value.  For instance, I felt strongly about the declining status of education in the US and finally I put in time to do some research, before I wrote the blog – http://bit.ly/AwLq7G .  You must enjoy reading and hearing different perspectives to be able to share your own thoughts effectively and authentically.

No. 3 – You are religious about not compromising on content and quality.
You can compromise on frequency but never on content.  If you provide sloppy content, wrong facts, or poor quality material then eventually your readership will diminish and disappear.  To keep up frequency, you can invite guest bloggers who can provide equally good content, as you.

No. 2 – You are not obsessive about privacy
Privacy violations are scary in the digital age.  And we all need to take appropriate steps to protect our privacy.  However, as I said earlier, if you want to reach a broader audience for your blog then you have to allow them a way to reach you.  You need to decide the channel and the boundaries that work for you to manage your more visible public profile.

No. 1 – You want to focus on intentional living and self-development
It is my belief that blog writing gives clarity in thinking and brings greater intentionality and purposefulness to life.  My writing has enabled me to pursue my disparate love for theater and for conferences on new technologies.  I read books with greater focus, listen to speakers without ever falling asleep, and see little rhymes in life’s adversities and challenges.  Writing a blog has helped me to prioritize my lifestyle, cut down activities that suck a great deal of time and bring little pleasure, and has enabled me to create more time, with minimal lifestyle.  I credit my blog writing for enabling me to have a wonderfully engaged life, as an emptynester.  I am generally a happy person but writing makes me happier.  It is at once a social activity and yet a private activity.  It helps you to retreat from people for some personal meditation space and it helps you to more meaningfully engage with the world.

So now go ahead and start your blog, give it a go, and in next part I will discuss how you can market it.

Blog With Authenticity Without Getting Fired (Photo credit: Search Engine People Blog)