I seriously do not like to blog. In fact, I cringe every time I click the "Post" button on any social media website in which my thoughts instantly become accessible to everyone on the planet with a computer and internet connection. So why do I overcome my fear and make the effort to post words that may not even get read, or possibly may incite an internet riot?
I can tell you that most of the time, after I've read about 10-20 blogs by my friends and colleagues, I begin to feel comforted, thinking, "If he or she can write a blow-by-blow account of their entire boring day, why can't I? And I fall for it nearly every time. The temptation to make oneself feel "heard" is too powerful. We all want that validation that we're not crazy and there really are 60 thousand other people who accidentally stapled their homework onto their thumbs.
Of course there are those who are not going through anything particularly important or painful, or exciting at the time, but most people can easily recall when a time when they were. It's just the thought that someone, somewhere, does feel, or has felt what I do right now, that makes us do this.
Oh, and there's another reason. The real reason for me. Many people just want to make some small contribution in the world. The idea of being "heard" is more than just someone saying, "Yeah, I know what you mean." It's someone saying, "Oh yeah, I never really thought about it that way." For those people, like me, who have that little bug, you KNOW what I mean. Your heart kind of does a little jump when someone says something like that.
Come on, admit it. When you share something on Facebook, don't you go through to look at the comments, just hoping that maybe SOMEONE will say, "That's great, I never heard that before." Or even better, "I am going to try that!" Not everyone cares about that kind of thing, but you know who you are, if you do.
And the worse part is that we also care when we don't get the kudos, or even worse, when someone criticizes. It's not that we feel we're always right, because I certainly know I'm not. But, when you take the chance to say what you FEEL, or something you just learned, or something that has just occurred to you - it's painful when people tell you it's stupid or cut you down. Most of the time, I can handle someone who simply disagrees, but when they make it personal - perhaps complaining about the way it's worded, or how long it is, or worse, that it's just boring or stupid, then don't we all begin to doubt ourselves just a tiny bit?
Well, I've decided that I'm going to be bigger than all that. I've claimed my tiny corner of Blogdom and put my name on it. This is ellen-land, and I am free to say what I want, when I want and how I want. And if someone doesn't agree, they can jump off the web... And just go find someone else's blog to read. I mean, that's the point, isn't it? We have the choice to read what we want, so if you don't like what I have to say, then don't read it.
I can tell you that most of the time, after I've read about 10-20 blogs by my friends and colleagues, I begin to feel comforted, thinking, "If he or she can write a blow-by-blow account of their entire boring day, why can't I? And I fall for it nearly every time. The temptation to make oneself feel "heard" is too powerful. We all want that validation that we're not crazy and there really are 60 thousand other people who accidentally stapled their homework onto their thumbs.
Of course there are those who are not going through anything particularly important or painful, or exciting at the time, but most people can easily recall when a time when they were. It's just the thought that someone, somewhere, does feel, or has felt what I do right now, that makes us do this.
Oh, and there's another reason. The real reason for me. Many people just want to make some small contribution in the world. The idea of being "heard" is more than just someone saying, "Yeah, I know what you mean." It's someone saying, "Oh yeah, I never really thought about it that way." For those people, like me, who have that little bug, you KNOW what I mean. Your heart kind of does a little jump when someone says something like that.
Come on, admit it. When you share something on Facebook, don't you go through to look at the comments, just hoping that maybe SOMEONE will say, "That's great, I never heard that before." Or even better, "I am going to try that!" Not everyone cares about that kind of thing, but you know who you are, if you do.
And the worse part is that we also care when we don't get the kudos, or even worse, when someone criticizes. It's not that we feel we're always right, because I certainly know I'm not. But, when you take the chance to say what you FEEL, or something you just learned, or something that has just occurred to you - it's painful when people tell you it's stupid or cut you down. Most of the time, I can handle someone who simply disagrees, but when they make it personal - perhaps complaining about the way it's worded, or how long it is, or worse, that it's just boring or stupid, then don't we all begin to doubt ourselves just a tiny bit?
Well, I've decided that I'm going to be bigger than all that. I've claimed my tiny corner of Blogdom and put my name on it. This is ellen-land, and I am free to say what I want, when I want and how I want. And if someone doesn't agree, they can jump off the web... And just go find someone else's blog to read. I mean, that's the point, isn't it? We have the choice to read what we want, so if you don't like what I have to say, then don't read it.
So there. My declaration of "indeblogdence." No, it's not in the dictionary, and I CLAIM IT.
~~Nancy Ellen Earhart
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