Four years is too long a time to be on a product review site. Especially, if one is not too keen on movies, or averse to writing on them. The topics tend to dry up and you suddenly begin to feel your time is up… close your account and look elsewhere. These were exactly my thoughts on a lot more occasions than I cared to admit… to myself.
Every time I made up my mind to throw away my pen (I couldn’t afford to throw away my PC), I was held back by strong unseen strings that kept me bound to MouthShut. During my 4 year sojourn on MouthShut, I had made some real good friends. I loved the interaction, the discussion, and the general camaraderie. This was something unique on a product review site.
My journey on MS was like a Comet… shining brightly for a brief period before vanishing into the void. Like the Comet, I was always in a captive orbit. It was only a matter of time before I would return to shine ever so briefly… and then I would reluctantly drift away hoping to make more friends during my next rendezvous. However, there was one difference. Comets charted a specific orbit and their next appearance could always be predicted. My orbit was eccentric and erratic and, therefore, my appearances were sporadic at best.
Looking back, had I known then that I would be making these rather irritable appearances and disappearances, I would have opened my MS account with an id looking something like Cometontheboil, or Comettrailblazer, or simply TheComet.
Like the comet, I am too trapped in an orbit. But the orbit is not one dictated by gravity… the orbit on MS is totally dictated by my addiction to MS. How this addiction has come about? Well, as far as I can see it… there are a few good reasons. One reason is my love for writing, especially, on varied subjects. Out of my 122 reviews, just a handful has been on movies and you all know that movies and music attract the bulk of reviews on MS. Another reason is my love for commenting on reviews. I love writing long comments… it is another matter that the reader might find it extremely boring. But the most important reason is – my friends on MS. I always come back to read what they’ve written.
This in essence is what my addiction to MouthShut is all about. MouthShut has changed greatly over the last four years of my association with it. All I can say is that it has certainly changed for the better. I love the new changes, and I am sure many more changes will happen in the near future.
I am afraid of one thing… will my eccentric orbit take me away from MouthShut one time too many? Will I be lost in the void forever never to return to MouthShut? These are the questions I am grappling with at the moment. Right now; the questions just seem to hang in the air. Let them be… I am not yet ready for the answer.
~mbf~