Friday 16 July 2010

you are not alone

A couple of weeks ago, I got a wee bump in followers on twitter.

Then later that day, I got a message from someone saying:

"@theWeir I read "the egg" today and it blew my mind. How did you come up with that?" (it's here)

I didn't recognise the author of the message, and more importantly, didn't remember writing anything called "the egg". A quick check of blog
titles and writings confirmed that I was being mistaken for someone else.

But who were they looking for, and what was "the egg"? I replied thanking the person, but suggesting it was a different Andy Weir. They passed me this link.

Now I knew that this wasn't me as my relationship with God doesn't lead to reincarnation...


I thought not much more about it until I opened up Google Reader and found a whole load of results in my "tracking" RSS feeds. I'm sad (or vain?) enough to keep an eye on what my name shows on Google and twitter searches.

Not because I expect to find some scandal about me, but just to know what's being picked up about people with the same name as me. Mitch talks about it a lot in the area of Personal Branding. While I'm not in the game of building a brand of Andy Weir, I do want to be aware what Google says about me as that can impact the perception a prospective employer might have of me.

And here we are ten days, and an 800% jump in website views for my homepage later and I'm still getting results about "the egg" and a steady stream of new twitter followers. When I tweet about Jesus, do you think they'll be confused?

Too late.

I posted this earlier:

"thoughts of future, possibilities and faith mingle with weariness and uncertainty to leave me open to grace & peace. a re-drawing of things."

And got a reply:

"@theWeir Dude, did you write "The Egg" or not? Am I following the right Andy Weir? :) But seriously..."

The answer, was clearly "Nope"...

What's my reply to "the egg"? I have a future and a hope in Jesus that lasts longer than I can understand. There is enough Grace and Peace in the Love of God to calm the most tormented soul and there is one life to live for the Glory of the King and that's what I am all about.

I have no pity for the other Andy Weir. I have respect for his writing. It's a beautifully created narrative. My worldview is different and I can cope with his being different too. Some of the ideas in "the egg" resonate with truth I can agree with.

But my hope is built not in my attaining God-likeness but in being given the gift of life in God, of losing my self and finding wholeness in Christ.

Of being reborn into His likeness...

6 comments:

Anne Weir said...

The dark text on the dark background can't be read easily,but you probably realise that! Very confusing that two people can blog under the same name. Hope it doesn't happen to me.

theWeir said...

Thanks for your comment, Mum.

I've fixed the rogue colour...

As for people blogging with the same name, it's bound to happen. Very few of us have unique name combinations! Have you tried googling your name to see what/who shows up?

Casey said...

Good morning! The author of The Egg noticed and sent me this link. As a long-time friend of "The Other Mr. Weir", it's almost jarring to see you post with such a dramatically different style and philosophy from your namesake. I think your analysis of The Egg carries an interesting viewpoint, and one which its existing readership might not have been able to express. Thank you for sharing it!

theWeir said...

Hi Casey, thanks for your comment.

Thanks too, for being gracious. Isn't it interesting how two people with the same name seem so disparate in their writing? Probably not, we were made that way...! ;-p

As I said in my post, I think the other Weir articulates something great and potentially freeing for many. While I can't claim to have much of it all figured out, I'm confident that our holistic selves get one shot at this living lark.

Hopefully my style wasn't too jarring for you!

Thanks again for your comment.

Peace,

W

Aviraj Singh Bishnoi said...

I'm really sorry if this looks like a stupid question, but I still can't figure out how to find the Mr. Weir who actually wrote The Egg...? Anyone?

theWeir said...

Thanks for your comment, avirajbishnoi.

I'm sorry to say that I can't point you in the right direction, as I don't know the Andy Weir you're looking for.

Thanks again for saying hello.