Follower, Leader, or Loner

Walking Oscar, I often have thoughts that I feel may be suitable for the Blog, or more to the point something I feel I just need to get off my chest.

Yesterday I was walking into the Millennium Field when I saw the usual band of about ten or so dog walkers congregated and chatting away, it was as usual for them and about 9 am, their dogs also enjoying the interaction with one another.

It got me thinking, as I always look to steer clear of anything that resembles groups of small, minded people getting together to chat.

My walks with Oscar are for us to enjoy, time to contemplate and reflect on life and how wonderful it can be, the last thing I need is someone letting me know their view on life and ruining the tranquillity of our stroll.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do like to talk to any interesting individual, but I like it to be kept to a minimum.

It also made me think about the groups actions and the way social media works and how people react to this.

People are often encouraged to seek to follow, or seek out followers on social media, is this a vanity thing or something else, is there now a need a wish to be loved or to love others that you don’t really know.

Now I write this blog, not to obtain followers, but that may or may not happen, but because I like to write down my thoughts and to provide me with a release. Does this mean I have a tendency to lead rather than follow.

Similarly, those active on Twitter, are they seeking to lead and obtain acknowledgement and acclaim at making a statement or just following those with a like mind, I’m not sure.

What I do know, is that I am not particularly a follower, and I also thought while walking am I a leader, but I quickly dismissed this, as while I have lead at times in my career and life, I know now that if I led I would soon find few are actually following.

So, I reflected further as I walked with Oscar and established that realistically, I’m a loner who follows his dog with pride and to be honest I am quite happy with that, I love those close to me and they are the ones I truly care about.

I also came to the conclusion that while many are followers with the obvious occasional leaders, most people are likely to be loners with the odd companion.