The thing about blogs...

Last night, in an attempt to be less secretive and more open about myself, I told a few coworkers over some delicious hipster sausages that I do indeed have a blog. This was after their rant about how blogs are narcissistic and really, who would want to read about what you have to say? "If you're my friend I"ll just talk to you, I don't need to read about it," I think was one of the arguments.

And yes, while I would have to agree that the whole notion of a blog is a bit self absorbed, at the same time, I'm wondering, What's wrong with being a bit self absorbed once in a while? It's not like you're shoveling it down people's throats. It's not a direct email or phone call to any one in particular. You get to talk about yourself as much as you want, and people can read it when they feel like it, at their "leisure." That's right, because reading my blog should be done at your leisure.

I brought up the blog NOT because they were vilifying blogs ("making fun of" was more like it), and I felt like I had to shut them up, or defend my blog. Like I said, they had some pretty valid points. I brought it up merely because I wanted to contribute to the conversation and what better way to do so than to admit that yes, I am an active participant.

It's always a bit awkward bringing up the blog. But whenever you do, the inevitable "what's your blog called" is asked. Let me just say, I bring it up to let people know that "this is something I do," and not necessarily to passive aggressively ask them to read it in a roundabout way. I really have no preference whether I want to let people read my blog or not. It's just that...I'd rather not know about you reading my blog. Once I know who my audience is, I start writing (and editing) according to the audience, and then I feel like I can't be myself and write all the things I want. You think I'm secretive now, wait til I get a real following! By that time, the blog will cease to exist.

Besides, it's the age of the internet. If people like said coworkers were really curious and wanted to read my blog, they could just do a simple search. You don't even have to be a stalker to know how to do that.

What I should have said to those naysaying blog bottom-dwellers was this:
My blog allows me to write my thoughts down, and how I'm feeling at any given time. It's as much for myself as it is for other people; it's a record of the little things that go on in my little life, and once in a while, I enjoy going back in time and remembering those little moments, because we take so much of it for granted. It also helps me to keep what little writing chops I have up, because I need to work on my other skills in order to keep my sanity during work.

I love my blog, and I'm glad I started it up all those years ago, despite even my own skepticism at the beginning. GO ME.

ME. ME. ME. ME. ME.

Because it's MY blog.

Thank you for reading.