Authenticity

I was contemplating the other day why I blog. Honestly I started mostly because my good friend RS Emeline was doing it. I figured I could mess around with some stuff, throw some of my writing out there and help generate interest for her amazing writing and the wonderful YA novels she's writing. (Not that she needs my help, she's fabulous and capable all on her own.)

My enthusiasm for it lasted about a week. Then this blog sat idle for nearly a year until something RSE said prompted me to start again. I really enjoy writing, painting a mental picture with words, finding the right one to give you, the reader, the same mental picture I have. It's like trying to describe colors to someone.

"I just got a new blue shirt."

What color blue did you picture? Light blue, dark blue, navy blue? The English language is so robust in its descriptors...like having a fridge full of condiments <wink>.

"I just got a v-neck, short sleeve t-shirt as blue as the Aegean Sea." (Now, we're thinking more along the same lines.)

I also decided I like to blog because I feel like I have a non-judgmental audience. (Although, some posts have been misinterpreted as personal rather than introspective.) I can blog about emotional insecurity. I can share with you how incredibly blue I've been. How hard these last couple weeks have been and how this one doesn't feel any better. I can tell you I feel incredibly disconnected. I can also flip the coin and tell you how ridiculous I'm being because I have many, many things to be grateful and happy for.

Which brings me to authenticity.

Unless your blog specifically represents itself as a resource for something or as the virtual face of a business, I think you should blog what you want. I keep looking at this blog and thinking I should blog something happy or positive.  Problem is, lately I don't feel happy or positive. Therefore, I think I should blog what I want.

I think I should "blog authentically."  I think if I feel down and want to write about it I should.  I think that if I hear something controversial on the news and I have an opinion I want to share, I should go ahead and do so.  I think if I want to blog about politics or religion, I should.

Certainly I can be respectful in expressing my opinion, but I don't think that I should type on eggshells when I blog.

What do you think? Do you want to read what's genuinely on a blogger's mind? Or should they write what they think you want to read? Something that's "politically correct" or neutral or happy?

You Like Purple Unicorns? Me Too!!!

It’s a classic tale. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Marriage and babies follow. The babies grow up, become friends with their parents friends’ children, and the cycle begins again. Same school, same church, same sports, same college. It happens all the time in neighborhoods all over the world. It happened in mine. Those I grew up with settled down with people that fit with the lifestyle they were already living, many of them with their childhood sweethearts.

I wonder what the statistics are for how far the average person gets away from the area where they were born. Fifty mile radius? A couple hundred maybe? How many people who manage to get away for college or join the military, end up returning to settle down in their home town?

Does commonality equate with long lasting, happy relationships? Are mutual interests enough? A shared love of football, hiking, or pop culture? Or do you need deeper core values in common? Can a Buddhist and a Catholic have a long term, happy relationship?  What about a Democrat and a Republican?

Maybe with mutual respect the differences in opinion simply make your relationship more interesting. Is such a thing even possible? 

If to your very core you believe in heaven and that you must accept Jesus as your Savior, can you live knowing your partner refuses to do the same? Does it tear you up inside? 

If you believe in a woman’s right to choose, can your partner reconcile their belief that life begins at conception?

This isn’t even touching on your friends and family and the controversy that will arise there.  I’m just musing about things between the two of you.  Friends and family are a whole different mess.

Obviously there was something that attracted you to that person to begin with. Perhaps that alone says those differences aren’t such a big deal. On the other hand, who meets a guy at a bar and says, “by the way, I believe in stem cell research.” Unless, of course, you’re trying to scare him off. While you’re at it, unless you have something nice to say, you might want to stay away from the topic of his alma mater as well. ;)

Your thoughts?