Finding your Niche through Introspection

After choosing a Hub topic it can be very difficult to stick with that particular subject. Joining Hubpages is an exciting process, one which threaten to carry the author away into fantasies of writing 33,000 Hubs in 3 days covering every area of human knowledge (and then some.) However, the actual process of writing a Hub quickly sobered this zealous newbie into getting some fresh coffee and settling down to business.

In the process of brainstorming ideas I entertained a number of possible subjects. There is a buffet of memories to choose from -- a dab of nostalgia here, a bit o' melancholy there, with several main courses of instruction. So many years of life experience to share, so little time!

Choosing a topic for one article was easy for me last time, since the central idea was to simply write from the heart of where I was at the moment. But if there is to be any development, it would serve me well to choose themed niches to write about. That's not to say I must limit my writings in the future to only one niche, but I foresee the importance of establishing a consistent array of themes to draw upon.

Therefore it becomes incumbent on the writer to wrangle the experiences into a field of reference, or field of expertise. If there was doubt in the individual before the decision to write, then this process may lead to self-discovery, and in turn, to the establishment of a personal niche of experience.

"The unexamined life is not worth living" quoth Socrates. While I applaud his quoth, I revile his quaff! To drink of the ever-so-mellowing hemlock was a mistake on his part, in my opinion. Live to corrupt the youth another day is what I say! But I digress into material for another Hub...

My point is to emphasise the enrichment of life's quality through prudent examination of content and direction. All too often we feel as though we must run run run the rat-race without ever stopping to notice the roses, much less smell them. While such a rush through life may yield quantities of one type of momentum -- overtime hours at the office, skill increase in cooking one type of dish, drinking the ritual cup of coffee-two-creams-three-sugars, etc -- one will almost certainly miss out on the beauty of variation, and hence a loss of life's enrichment. To see the riches of the Universe, one's personal universe in particular, one does well to slow down, open up the scope of vision and take stock. This applies not only to daily events and objects, but to the actual history of the individual. We think we know ourselves so well... and often, one may be right. Yet I assert there are hidden treasures within the individual which they may not even be aware of! By following the golden thread of life experiences through introspection, one may court the 'eureka!' experience to burst forth; self-examination leads to self-knowledge. It is from self-knowledge that we may build a niche of communication.

As written above, I had any number of ideas present themselves to my attention when trying to formulate my 'interface' so to speak. Some of them were simply opinions I had about things, in which case I could sculpt my Hubs to be of an editorial nature. Parenting is not only a popular subject, but one very easy for me to write about. Other ideas revolved around my extensive studies in religion, Natural Philosophy, and other esoteric subjects. My past experiences with alcohol abuse were certainly pyrotechnical ammo to load into the creative guns. The unusual circumstances of my childhood could be potential story-bases, as long as I made them relevant to the masses... and on and on. They're all valid, all equally possible niches.

Or are they?

Upon examining the ideas internally asserting themselves, I began the intentional turning of inward vision to the sources of the ideas. In other words, I was examining from whence they arose, the context of their inspiration. By honestly examining the tone of my ideas I began to gather that some are good for occasional story-telling, while others are more suited for ongoing niche-work.

Obviously, if one is going to have a niche then there must be a degree of aptitude involved, if not expertise. Otherwise, one's niche on, say, learning a new instrument becomes a diary of aspiration instead of an actual sharing of practical information.

It is this type of self-examination and self-assessment that can save one a ton of effort later on. By figuring out now what may or may not work in the long-term, one is avoiding the terrible job of having to do a major overhaul on their public interface or web-niche.

There is a method of control in Taoist tradition where one removes unwanted growths while they are tiny, supple, and green instead of large, rigid, and gnarled. This is exactly what I am encouraging when I advise introspection upon setting out to establish a niche. Examine the bitter lessons of life, and its sweet surprises; take stock of unique perspectives have been borne of the past. How do these bring one to the present? Which of these are good as anecdotes? Which could be written into useful warnings? Which experiences have developed into an actual, tangible expertise? How does that appeal to the masses?

While it is important to examine these issues when building a niche, unfortunately there may come a point where all of it has to be scrapped, the "having to do a major overhaul" that one was trying to avoid in the first place. In such cases all is not for aught, since the very act of creating is in itself a road to more expertise! As Ben Franklin said, "I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways of doing it wrong.” When one applies the lesson, there is no failure... only rough drafts.

So set upon the path, discover and develop your niche, and go forth into the endless horizon!