S T Coleridge – Frost At Midnite

Today’s prompt is the meaning of my business name.

Well, I am mostly known by my own name. And since my blog might as well be my business, I shall tell you the meaning of it.

Frost At Midnite came to be because of my friend, Rahul. One night, after we’d graduated, he talked me into blogging. Back then, Rahul used to blog as well. Now, life happened, and he doesn’t any more. This was during a world cup season, and I used to sit into the dark hours of the night watching the football match, while everyone around me slept.

Beginning a blog was easy, I could write. Sometimes well, sometimes rubbish. But coming up with a name was more frustrating. Then I figured I am a night owl, I do my best thinking either in the loo or at night. It is like my brain exercises when the world around me goes to sleep. And, I also happened to be reading poetry. Frost At Midnight, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was a poem I remembered and named my blog after it. For it was all about hope and good things in life.

You will not believe how many times people have asked me, “Yo J!, are you keeping the midnight frosty?” But then, those people themselves were bloggers who do not blog anymore. I sometimes feel that loss, a loss of reading their thoughts, rather acutely. It used to give me a perspective better than any spoken word could. The cathartic process of writing brings people’s emotions into play and that speaks aloud.

Now, there is a different crop of bloggers whom I follow, and I am grateful for their presence.

It was a night in June 2006, when my friend and I were discussing things and he said, “You should blog!” We were discussing a book, as usual, and I am glad he said “blog” instead of “write a book” or some such. I do think it is a pity that my dear friend, who suggested it, doesn’t blog anymore.

So, it’s been 10 years since Frost started. I remember logging onto BlogSpot and creating it. I was so in love with the poem Frost At Midnight by S T Coleridge at that time, and also being a night owl, I settled on the name. It makes a lot of sense now. And here’s why…

For I was reared

In the great city, pent ‘mid cloisters dim,

And saw nought lovely but the sky and stars.

But thou, my babe! shalt wander like a breeze

By lakes and sandy shores, beneath the crags

Of ancient mountain, and beneath the clouds

… I wish this blog all that and more. It may be a very ignored baby, but it is mine!

I used to randomly write about mundane things and how my day went. Some posts were even posts about posts. Nonetheless, there was always something to write about. Now I find myself seldom sitting down and writing. I can’t say it’s because writing is a habit I have outgrown like biting my nails. It is there deep down inside my heart and soul. And the urge to write is stronger some days and not so on others.

I was wondering why I feel this way. Nothing came up. Not one Thought!!! Can you imagine how often it is when one wants a reason there never is one to be found. Silently, I sat there and looked at others happily writing __sometimes in more than 140 characters. It was thus that I stumbled upon Kung Fu Panda’s #365DaysOfWriting. Imagine that! Every day you write something. Even if it is just one line! But write you must. This is something that I am looking forward to doing.

Meanwhile, you may wonder why I have been posting when I said I was taking off for a bit. Sigh! Long story! I was completely planning to give a few entrance exams and go back to college. But my relatives had a few different plans for me. Let’s just say that in the war that followed, my parents got caught in the middle. I am now being civil and polite to everyone, but that as well depends on how things go. And so, my plans of sitting for entrance exams are now kaput! And I will now only have those few classes and courses that are current and which will be complete in 2017.

There is always a bright side to everything that happens in life. A failure means you are now one step closer to success. It also means you have one more lesson under your belt to help you get there. That’s how life is. This change of plans has given me some time to sit and write. And Write I will.

Looking back at the very first post I wrote one line stood out the most. Old thoughts are prejudices and new ones are caprices. It called out to me. I guess 10 years back, in some way, I must have known that in the future I would need to read this one line.

This has only been a random blog post about how things are and mostly about how and why I missed celebrating my Blog-anniversary. One sad and disappointing thing in these ten years of blogging – I really miss those bloggers who gave it up. Those people who wrote, and created magic with words, quit due to many reasons.

This post is dedicated to all of them. I hope that they find that awesome super power that lies dormant within them and bring it back to life. May they create a lot more magic in the days to come! And hopefully, so shall I.