I will begin this blog by introducing myself. I started this blog last year for another one of Professor Ball's classes--Intellectual Freedom. I had every intention of keeping up with it but as life goes, it kind of fell by the wayside. I am an avid writer though in the form of journal writing. I have been documenting my life since I was seven years old. I have enough journals to fill up an entire bookcase! With that said, blogging in general is still a bit weird for me. I think my hesitation comes with the knowledge that people, (people I don't even know) could potentially be reading my thoughts. And not just reading them but dissecting them, criticizing them, and discussing them. To make matters worse, I do not have the ability to really justify my opinions and thoughts if I don't know they are being deconstructed. I suppose I don't like being talked about "behind my back."
With my own private journals, I rely on the fact that no one is really reading them. I mean, sure a friend or even my husband may be given the privilege of reading a particular entry but I would never just hand over the journal and say, "Here you go! Happy reading!" I suppose I grew up with the idea that my inner monologue was private and probably should remain private. Blogging to me, is making that inner monologue heard by anonymous others. Scary.
On the other side of this coin lies the technology aspect. I am not so scared of that. Sure I don't know how it all really works and when it comes to actually programming software or writing code, well count me out but I am confident that what I don't know I can find out from someone who does. That's called networking and it is the one thing I learned from working in the real world. Buddy up with someone who has knowledge in a subject where you lack. This helps the both of you for chances are, that buddy will need your expertise in something else. I am also not afraid or ashamed to ask for help. What I am afraid of is not asking for guidance and then doing something royally stupid that makes me look like an idiot. So if asking allows me save face, well count me in on that.
Lastly, I am a fan of technology. I like all the perks and benefits that come with living in 2009. I mean, if I miss an episode of "Bones" I no longer panic. If my DVR goes out (as it did the other day), I no longer cry. Why? Because I can watch my shows online by using my computer. If I can't find a song I used to love, I don't have to run out to the record store and purchase the entire CD. I can just download it off iTunes and play it on my iPod. Sweet. I love the convenience that comes with technology in 2009 even if it does tend to break my wallet. I suppose this is just another way to learn that "with beauty comes pain."
5 comments:
I totally understand where you're coming from with being hesitant to put your thoughts out here on the WWW! I love to journal as well, but I'm still a little uncomfortable with blogging because it's scary to put yourself out there like this. I'm glad your sharing your thoughts with us, though, since you are indeed a writer!
You should be careful not to become a famous writer if you don't want those private journals found and picked apart! I always wondered how the literary luminaries of years gone by would feel if they knew that generations of English Majors were out there reading through their most private and personal reflections with the intention of trying to find some meaning in what they'd written.
I do hope that you manage to keep up with the blog. You have a good voice and I look forward to reading more from you as the semester goes along.
That is awesome that you kept all of your journals. I have kept journals in the past, but as I was starting to fill my third journal I thought what a disaster it would be if they fell into the wrong hands, so I decided to burn them. Ever since, after writing in a journal, I would keep it for a few months, reflect on it, then discard it. I always wondered what it would be like to have them all though. That really is incredible!
I think that is great that you kept all your journals!
I agree in that I too hesitate at times to journal some of the things I am thinking in my blogs because of the fact strangers can read them and pick them apart, plus at times I feel like I am leaving myself too open in the vulnerability department so I will just write the thought down in a journal that I keep in my room or on a disk if I type it on my computer.
You raise some interesting points, Dawn, about privacy and personal identity and in your posting on stereotypes about humans' tendency to make assumptions about others. They're questions that we all need to find our own answers to, or at least ponder and accept that there may be no answers.
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