This blog chronicles my life as I try to balance healthy lifestyle habits with my husband's penchant for pizza rolls and my daughter's desire to watch iCarly 8 hours a day. It contains a mostly humorous, kind, and somewhat spiritual look at everyday life and the people who live it.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Okay, so now what?

Okay, so now that the challenge is over and I'm still blogging what am I going to do with this blog? There are many choices faced by bloggers like myself: how much personal information do I give? Do I use real names? Just initials? Nicknames? Do I tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? What if my friends or family read this blog and find something unflattering about themselves? How much do I censor myself?

I don't know the answers to any of these questions. Right now I tell the absolute unvarnished truth, using real names, with a vague geographical location to identify me. My husband thinks I should use nicknames, he'd like to be known as "Spanky" but I think I'll stick to calling him "Steve." Steve does read my blog and has, in fact, confronted me on a couple of things he has read. My immediate reaction after I realized he was following the blog was to begin censoring. I felt constrained, watched, conspicuous, vulnerable, and a lot nervous about what he would "think" about me. I spoke with Deb about all those feelings and she said "so what, it's your blog. He can write a rebuttal blog if he wants, this is for you." I think there's a lot of wisdom in that and so I am persevering, still blogging, and committing to as honest a stream of consciousness as I can provide.

I'm still a little nervous. Especially now that Deb has my blog linked to hers, other people may see this...

Isn't that the point of a blog?

Well, that is another choice bloggers need to make. Why am I blogging? What do I hope to achieve with this blog? Who is my intended audience? Will I tell anyone about this blog?

The short answer is I am blogging because I enjoy it. I enjoy writing, I enjoy examining my life in a series of short stories, vignettes if you will. I don't have an intended audience, though I think the people who will be most drawn to what I write are women as I am drawn to women authors myself.

The biggest question for me right now is "will I tell anyone about this blog?" I haven't yet admitted to blogging, except to my husband and daughter. I haven't told my friend Chellie. I haven't told any family members. I haven't told other friends or acquaintances. I have so enjoyed blogging that it feels slightly dishonest not sharing this new interest with those close to me, but I am reluctant to "out" myself. Once I know that many people who know me are reading, I think I will feel less spontaneous and definitely more censored. I need to work on thickening my skin and strengthening my resolve before I am ready to share this part of myself. I know that Deb understands because she is putting herself out there too, blogging, sharing herself in a unique way, (to read Deb's blog, go to http://www.itiswhatitis.typepad.com/). But will others understand? I suppose there is only one way to find out...

...So onward and hopefully upward. Happy November everyone!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You're a sneaky one! I'm glad you're blogging- the blog world is a better place for your writing.