Chinthana Munasinghe of Unsilent Dawn blog

I’m Chinthana Munasinghe, a 24 year old dreamer, born and raised in the paradise isle of Sri Lanka. Currently I’m taking some time off from work to follow my dreams and also to live life the way it was meant to be lived. I’m passionate about music, movies, travelling, exploring, philosophy, and creative writing.

I hate routines and like to try out and experience new things in life. Writing was just one of those things I thought I’ll try. Creative writing is something I enjoy and I use it as a tool to explore the elements of the mind and soul. My writing and poetry can be found at Unsilent Dawn (http://unsilentdawn.wordpress.com). Currently I’m trying to forge a path to the world of visual arts, focusing mainly on graphic design, video production and also web design.

One day I hope to look back on life and say ‘Ha! I did it!’

Interview

Q: Welcome to Speakbindas. Tell us since when blogging has been a part of your life? Was there any motive or inspiration as a backbone of it?

I started blogging in 2008. I used to write since I was about 16 but it was always in a book which was for my eyes only. I am inspired by life itself. I like to focus on thoughts and emotions and explore them further, sort of like an inward journey to listen to the voice inside my head and making sense of what it has to say. One day I just made up my mind to open a blog and share my thoughts and ideas and I just did.

Q: What is your blog all about? Which topics you cover there? Is that you alone running/maintaining the blog, or have a team?

I enjoy creative writing and my blog mainly has a lot of poetry and prose. A few personal stories and sometimes my travel experiences pop up here and there. Like I mentioned before, it’s essentially a personal journey exploring my thoughts, ideas, emotions and experiences. I like to write in a way that others can relate, and leave the interpretations to the reader, especially when it comes to poetry… And my blog is all me, I am the sole author and maintain it independently.

Q.: How important is it for the blogger to interact with their readers? Do you respond to all the comments that you receive?

Interaction with the readers is important as it builds relationships with them while also providing a base to learn new things and gain constructive criticism. I try my best to respond to all the comments I receive, but there are times that I have not been able to. Still I appreciate each and every comment made on the blog as they have helped motivate me to write and also bring new perspectives to what could have originally been a very myopic point of view.

Q: What are the present statistics for your blog, i.e. number of daily visitors, visitors, geographical status etc.?

My blog is almost 2 years old but my visitor statistics are not very high as I don’t post frequently. My stats can be quite erratic at times, with the highest being over 150 visits and as few as 0 on some days. I’m not quite sure about the geographical status of the visits, but a majority is from Sri Lanka. I have received a few comments from people around the world as well, but I don’t know what countries some of them are from.

Q: Is blogging for you just a passion or a medium for earning too? Does it help you to earn enough cash to quit a 9 to 5 day job?

To be honest blogging is not a passion of mine. Writing definitely is, and I enjoy it purely for intrinsic reasons. Since the web is a free space I can share my demented thoughts, I blog. But I don’t see it as a medium for earning, and quite frankly I don’t want it to be either.

Q: Who are your favorite bloggers, whom you read frequently?

I don’t get much time to read many blogs and my Google reader is flooded with unread posts. When I read, I enjoy reading my friends’ blogs (most of whom I met on Kottu.org) and also other poetry and creative writing blogs.

Q: From the secret bucket of your blogging experiences, what tips you would like to share with the fellow bloggers?

One thing I know is that it’s important to write about what you want to write rather than what you think the world wants to read. It’s your blog and you have every right to do so. Be nice to readers, reply to comments and also try to comment on blogs that you read. It helps to bring in more visits to your blog as well as creating relationships with others. I have made quite a number of friends through the blogosphere.

Also don’t spam the blog link, because it can really turn people off. Use aggregators to promote instead of arbitrary spamming.

Q: Do you believe that blogging completes you? If yes, tell us how?

Blogging does not complete me, as I mentioned before it’s just a vehicle to share my ideas. Writing is a piece of the puzzle that completes me, but I aspire for greater things to complete me. All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall.

Q: What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

Randomly, off the top of my head, one of the happiest I’ve ever been is on a speeding motorboat in Maldives, with the wind in my hair and nothing but water around me. I was lost in my own world and that is one of the moments that I have felt the most free. There was no reason for the feeling, or the moment. It was just a total life high, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day.

A gloomy moment would be a time that I backed out from what could or should have been a huge part of my life, just because I was afraid and I didn’t take the shot. I’ve got no one else to blame but myself and living with that in my head was a dark and confusing time of my life. I got over it eventually, but sometimes it still haunts me a little.

Q: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations, where you need not to worry about costs for food, hotel or anything. Which destinations would you pick up, and why? Would you like to take someone along with you? If yes, whom?

Egypt – Always wanted to see the pyramids

The island in The Beach – just to get away from it all

Amsterdam – I heard the grass is greener there.

I would like to go with all my closest friends and my girlfriend. Would be one hell of a time!

Q: Are you into watching movies? If yes, which fills your list of favorite ones?

Ans.: Yeah I watch a lot of movies and I have a long list of favorites. Fight Club I think would be my all time favorite (yet).. American Psycho, Usual Suspects, Eternal Sunshine, Children of Men, Shawshank Redemption, City of God, V for Vendetta, Pineapple Express, Changeling, The Basketball Diaries, 28 Days Later. There’s many more… but that’s going to take a while to remember and compile.

Q: How does the slow internet speed affect your mind and performance?

I’m used to working on slow internet because it is kind of a norm here. But there are times it really gets on my nerves and I find myself cursing the connection and the service providers. At times like that, I try to do something else until the connection gets better and I can work properly.

Q: What would be the one thing you’d change about yourself?

I think I would like to have a better memory. There are many grey areas in my memory, where I can’t remember some of the easiest stuff.  I have lost many things because I can’t remember where I put them. So yes, my memory is one thing I would change about me. Oh and I also don’t want to procrastinate, but judging from the time I took to do this interview, I am a long way off from any change to that aspect.

Q: What will you do without internet?

Go crazy. I’m kidding. Well sometimes it’s hard to think of life without the internet because we spend a better part of our day on it and connect with a lot of people we would not meet on a daily basis too. But without it I think, I would probably be hanging out on the beach, travelling around the country, reading, writing or watching movies.

Q: What is your deepest fear?

Many would believe that cockroaches are my deepest fear but it’s not. I’m slowly getting over my fear (I think). I’m really not sure what would be my biggest fear, but I’m guessing it would be not being able to do what I really want in life. I guess I just don’t want to leave with a dead dream.

Q: What’s your take on the technological advancement these days? Does it make people’s life simple or complicated?

Technology has definitely made day to day life easier. It’s hard to imagine life without the internet, cell phones, vehicles and everything else around us because that is the world that I was born into and raised in. Having said that, technological advancement contributes to both a simple life as well as a complicated life. Simple in terms of the faster communication, efficiency, easy-to-use etc, yet complicated in many other aspects. Relationships are not what they should be. Everything is becoming impersonal slowly, we see it yet we deny it. People are becoming too dependent on technology and it has also created a form of ostentatious behavior in which many people try to get the best and newest of everything. But seriously, technology is bloody amazing!

Q: Any special message you would like to share with your blog readers as well with everyone else?

Dream big. You will lose out if you don’t, and life is way too short to keep putting off what you really want to do. One of the strongest quotes I have read from Paulo Coelho and which I try to live by is ‘An alchemist: A person who transforms dreams into reality. Be one.’

Also thank you very much for this interview.