Worlds Collide
Last week, I had a dream that I was sending a friend a link to an article and accidently sent her the link to my lovely little piece of the interwebs. In my dream, I found myself frantically combing through posts and editing out anything I thought would offend her or anything she didn't know.
I woke up in a cold sweat and checked my texts immediately to make sure it was a dream.
Why am I more comfortable with strangers reading about my daily life, my struggles, my hopes and dreams than I am my own friends and family? Why do I change the subject anytime someone says anything about blogging?
Blog life and real life are two separate worlds for me.
Please tell me I'm not the only one.
Here, I can be 100% transparent. I can talk about how angry I am, how much I struggle with contentment, or the fact that my job is not my dream job, and I want nothing more than my own small humans running around sometime soon. I can do it without fear of judgement. Here, I am encouraged and uplifted by sweet friends who are reading the nitty gritty and love me anyway. Real life just doesn't seem that comfortable or accepting.
I hope I'm not alone in this confession, and that someone else has insight into the pros and cons of keeping blog life private and making it part of my speech when someone asks about me.
I had a blog when I was in my teens and I remember when people found out they would call me about things I wrote. I even once had my pastor at the time pull me aside to talk about it. I quickly switched things to a "friend's only" livejournal. I don't think that non-bloggers understand bloggers at times.
ReplyDeleteI bet a good amount of bloggers feel this way... The way I go about it is this blog is me like it or leave it! of course i keep a few personal things out because not everyone need to know about it but that is what is so cool about blogs is that you are the one in control of what you share!
ReplyDeletexo Jessica
www.NewlyLoved.com
I was that way when I first started blogging. And then one day I made a Facebook page for my blog, my mom liked the page, it showed up on the newsfeed of friends and family, and the rest is history. I was terrified at first, but I don't mind it now. I have so many people that send me words of support and encouragement. The best is when I get a text or email from a friend or family member about a certain blog post. The downside, however, is that I am no longer as transparent as I want to be. There are topics that I want to blog about, but I am too afraid to do so because of the people I know who read it. In the end, it's about finding a balance. I tell myself all the time that when I can no longer be myself on the blog or write about the things I feel passionate about, it's time to throw in the towel.
ReplyDelete