I Give In and Start Blogging
I always told my friends that if I ever started a blog that they should just kill me. I like talking like that, making sweeping statements, famous last words that I end up eating in the end. Too much judgement, too much decisiveness is not necessarily a great thing. So here I go – starting an actual blog.
A few reasons I’m starting a blog:
1) A good friend and boss told me once that you are the stories you tell. I like that. I’ve never written down all the stories I tell – it’d be interesting to note what I end up writing in the end. I sometimes think I tell stories tabloid style – sensationalistic and shocking! Does that mean I am a sensationalistic person? Am I okay with that? I dunno, maybe not. Hopefully, by the end of this exercise, I find out.
2) I’m a great/horrible secret-keeper. Mostly because I love sharing. I’ll keep a secret well and good but I can never hide the fact that I am indeed hiding a secret. I’m not saying I’m about to reveal secrets via this blog but a least this will give me a venue for sharing.
3) I tell stories for a living. Triumphant stories, inspiring stories, sad stories and boring stories. I firmly believe that the most effective way to be your best version at any activity is practice, practice, practice. This blog is for that – storytelling practice. This may end up being random, this may end up being all over the place, but this will exist, and it will (occasionally) rock and perhaps frequently tank. But I put in my practice and my best effort. You hear that, muse? I put in my part!
A few reasons I’ve been apprehensive about blogging for so long:
1) I have a lot of friends that have really good blogs. And I know some folks with really really bad blogs. In my head, the difference between great and horrible is that swirling vortex of self-absorption and self-righteousness. When blogs become too self-absorbed, then, at least in my book, they start sucking and becoming less relatable. I can be really really self-absorbed if I let myself be – hence I fear the potential of creating a horrible blog. In the end, I’m still doing it. I may suck, but at least I tried. :)
2) I’m frequently appalled at the words that come out of my mouth. Come, let’s all be appalled together.
3) I think putting yourself out there for the whole cyberspace to be judged is immensely scary. Someone can screencap your work and edit it with a red marker and send it back to you with a big “don’t ever write another word again, woman.” But then again, what if it turns out great? What if the interwebs gives me a big fist-bump for awesomeness? What if the general populace gives my blog a glance and then it goes *meh?* What if my typing improves? Hey, that’s the best outcome I can hope for at the least.
So here’s to my latest story. I promise that some stories will be random, some will be shallow, some will be pointless, some will definitely suck but maybe, a few will be really really really good. :) (photo from Pinterest)