Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Write in my journal, or on the blog.....hmmm

I used to pretty faithfully write in a journal; I've been writing to myself in one form or another for almost 20 years. Mostly it's been a way to talk to myself without doing so aloud. Plus, being an overanalytical type, writing my thoughts to myself seemed like a good way to air myself out - before I went public.....

And now there is blogging - which for me is a public version of journaling. It's a nicer version, devoid of the meandering ocd and overanalytic thoughts that populate most of my journal writing. There's no going back and forth among my own thoughts. If journal writing is sweats and a t-shirt, blog writing is dressing up to face the world.

And as I write in both media, I attempt to journal in my blog - but with more brevity, wit and heart. The lines are blurring and the metaphor has not escaped me. I like being more out there, and I also like reading other people's blogs.

I thoroughly enjoy their news, their expressions and their photos. It's not just entertainment - but a feeling of one-to-one connection with people I don't even really know or know well. It's a showing, telling, feeling and exploring for us all - but feels quite individual. Unlike mass market entertainment laced with spectacle and marketing experts, these blogs feel more genuine. Devoid of the heavy layers of stage make-up - that live performers wear to be seen in the back row. Blogs - feel one on one, even though they reach so many.

All of my old journals - from the ones in notebooks, to the others written on a computer - are all somewhere "in a safe place." That means generally that I will not find them again anytime soon. I'm apparantly better at writing than remembering the "safe places" where these things are hiding.....

But the blogs....well, for now anyway, I know where they are. And I look forward to reading those of people I know, and many whom I don't know. They take me places I may not have gone, or haven't been yet. Plus, when I happen to know the writer, it's great fun to know the backstory - as well as the blog story.

No comments:

Post a Comment