One of my primary reasons for wanting to blog was my need for an outlet to express myself. I am a quiet, reserved person but I feel passionately about certain issues. Facebook is great for sharing pictures and little snippets of yourself but I don't find a whole lot of depth there. Although I enjoy reading my friends' status updates, Facebook is like a sitcom (with a lot of commercials) when sometimes I'd like to just sit down and watch a miniseries. It doesn't feel like the right venue for me to express my thoughts on things I care about like religion or politics. Sometimes I want to talk about hard issues and lay out my case logically and even emotionally, yet not get caught up in a fight with people who simply regurgitate what they've heard on Fox News without checking out the facts. (Sorry, but I can't help myself for this dig against one of the many fake news channels out there).
Another reason I wanted to write a blog is that for years I have had a yearning to write. I tried to do some creative writing several years ago but got stuck so I dropped it. I told myself that the imagination I had as a child was long gone because I've spent too many years doing left-brain analytical work. (By the way, the left-brain/right-brain theory is now considered a myth).
After writing several posts on political issues, my husband told me that no one would want to read my blog because it was too negative. So I thought about the things I enjoy like running and taking pictures of flowers when I trail run. I posted a bunch of my wildflower pictures on my blog and wrote a couple of posts about health and fitness. Just this week I decided that the approach of mixing negative political/social posts with positive flowery/health and fitness posts just doesn't fit me. It makes me feel like I have a split personality or like I'm putting my dirty laundry in with my clean clothes. So I moved several of my posts to this new blog, "Innie Me," where I will write about the good side of life from an introverted (and innie bellie button) point of view. I will still use my original blog, "The Dirty Cup," to write and vent about political or socioeconomic issues from my atypical "leftie" leaning Christian point of view.
What have I learned in eight months of blogging? I've learned to face my fears. Initially, I was afraid to share my posts with anyone I knew because I was so worried about offending anyone. I've learned that you can't trust the stats on Google's Blogger that show you how many people have viewed your blog. I've learned that some people promote their blogs and develop an audience by asking other bloggers to follow them. That's not my style. I've learned it is okay to have an audience of one. I've learned from my friend Tim that you no longer have to put two spaces after the end of a sentence as I was taught as a kid. I've learned that I like to write and that you're never to old to reinvent yourself.
Thank you to my big brother David, my intellectual mentor when I was a kid, who stayed up late with me to talk about real issues, the one who almost always reads and comments on my posts. Thanks to my husband for his support and as always, you can't stand behind my shoulder when I write or when I play Mahjong. It makes me nervous. Thanks to my niece Tisha, my nephew Adrian, and friends Cindy, Mary and Bill for reading my posts. There are more to come.
Oh, I've also learned that the right side of my brain still works.
After writing several posts on political issues, my husband told me that no one would want to read my blog because it was too negative. So I thought about the things I enjoy like running and taking pictures of flowers when I trail run. I posted a bunch of my wildflower pictures on my blog and wrote a couple of posts about health and fitness. Just this week I decided that the approach of mixing negative political/social posts with positive flowery/health and fitness posts just doesn't fit me. It makes me feel like I have a split personality or like I'm putting my dirty laundry in with my clean clothes. So I moved several of my posts to this new blog, "Innie Me," where I will write about the good side of life from an introverted (and innie bellie button) point of view. I will still use my original blog, "The Dirty Cup," to write and vent about political or socioeconomic issues from my atypical "leftie" leaning Christian point of view.
What have I learned in eight months of blogging? I've learned to face my fears. Initially, I was afraid to share my posts with anyone I knew because I was so worried about offending anyone. I've learned that you can't trust the stats on Google's Blogger that show you how many people have viewed your blog. I've learned that some people promote their blogs and develop an audience by asking other bloggers to follow them. That's not my style. I've learned it is okay to have an audience of one. I've learned from my friend Tim that you no longer have to put two spaces after the end of a sentence as I was taught as a kid. I've learned that I like to write and that you're never to old to reinvent yourself.
Thank you to my big brother David, my intellectual mentor when I was a kid, who stayed up late with me to talk about real issues, the one who almost always reads and comments on my posts. Thanks to my husband for his support and as always, you can't stand behind my shoulder when I write or when I play Mahjong. It makes me nervous. Thanks to my niece Tisha, my nephew Adrian, and friends Cindy, Mary and Bill for reading my posts. There are more to come.
Oh, I've also learned that the right side of my brain still works.
Your "atypical "leftie" leaning Christian point of view"? Many Christians are culturally conservative, but there is more liberalism out there than most realize, at least within my Catholic Church. I personally divide Christians is between "Old Testament" and "New Testament" Christians. Those drawn to Old Testament images of the punishment of sin focus on fighting the sinful culture they see all around them, while New Testament Christians focus upon the sin within themselves, and because they recognize their own sins are more tolerant of the sinners around them.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on finding a format that allows you to express your thoughts in long form. My outlet is writing in the comments section on news stories. There's a lot of anger and hatred directed towards Christians in general and Catholics in particular in the comments section on religious articles. It can be difficult to respond to it all in 250 words or less.
I really shouldn't assume that most Christians are politically conservative though that is the impression I've gotten from many that I know. There is enough stereotyping going on!
ReplyDeleteThis morning I couldn't sleep so I got up and read a Christian blog post about a lesbian Christian. The post had over 400 comments, some of them were pretty long and several people wrote back and forth. The comments weren't nearly as mean-spirited as some I've seen on news pages. Overall, I thought the people who wrote were very compassionate, perhaps because they embrace the New Testament's focus on redemption and the fact that we are all sinners.