I went to my favorite blogs and checked out some of their links. I was surprised. I enjoyed many of them. Some, not so much. They are used more for private connecting with family, which is a great resource.
I like to write, sometimes. Since starting blogging I have a new since of guilt with not writing in my journal. For many years I “puke on paper”, if I am upset I write out my feelings to better understand myself and give voice to what should never be said.
My paternal grandma has a “sanitized” version of her journals. I want to read the other version. I knew her after she matured and was a “saint”. I connect better with imperfection and can gain insight. Probably why I love to read biographies. I never finished the one on Mother Teresa, I could not connect with perfection. I think this bugs me even today.
Blogs are more casual and not seeking perfection. Just the opposite. I love to read the mishaps and the thinking of people I respect.
I have a drawer full of barely used notebooks with my “puke”. I grab what is close by, mostly undated and not in any order. I am too scared to go look at them. I only keep them because of how I feel about Grandma’s journals. My “real” journals are in there too. I have only used 3 my whole life. Starting with the one Shelly gave me at my 16 birthday party. Then the one “Mama Lou” gave me when I was a single mom. The current one is a simple comp book everyone got for FHE last year.
“Should they stay or should they go”?-almost quoting “The Clash”
3 comments:
I hate writing in journals because I'm always so embarrassed by what I wrote and then I end up burning them. That's one of the reasons I like the blog -- I'm writing stuff that I don't mind other people reading, but I'll be able to look back and remember things. I don't connect to perfection, either. This is bad to say, but I have a really hard time reading 1 Nephi because he's too perfect. 2 Nephi just has some interesting doctrine, so I like it anyway. I just KNOW I would have been a Laman. I already am! But I indentify more with Alma, because he had been so disconnected spiritually and was able to become such an amazing person. No, I don't feel at all like an amazing person, but I feel maybe I can become one because of him. Anyway, this comment is now officially longer than your blog post. Sorry.
Here's a fun blog...read a few posts before you form an opinion.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/
Ooo, very insightful, Elizabeth. Sheryl, I think you should totally keep them. Maybe put them in a place where they can't be read until you're gone. But it's the people who love you and know who will read them. And for them I think it will be so refreshing for them to realize a person they loved was real. I think its seeing how people work through the hard stuff (or seeing that there just is hard stuff) that is helpful. There is
nothing really helpful about hearing all the happy times. It's nice, but not really strengthening.
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