There are two types of bloggers: Those whose close family members read their blog fairly regularly and those whose families avoid reading it like the plague.
I’m a Typhoid Mary type of blogger.
To be fair, some of my family members read the blog when I first started it but have long since tapered off. They and others will read it if I ask them to look at a particular post. Others will promise to read it but never do.
Of course, I don’t badger anyone about reading my blog and for that reason I hadn’t asked them why they don’t read it–until recently. What I heard from two people I know extremely well was interesting.
One person said that they were happy knowing what they knew about me (which is a lot) and they didn’t felt uncomfortable delving any further than that. The other said that reading the blog is disorienting because of the difference between their perception of me and my thoughts as they are expressed here.
I probably imagine myself to be more transparent than I really am, though I’m positive I have improved in that area over the years. Is there something about writing out your feelings that is different from talking about them?
Assuming we are trying to be true to ourselves, is there any way to reconcile what we think, what we say, and how we behave? Do we need to observe all of these aspects in a person to form a complete picture?
Can we ever be who we think we are?
Do we ever really know each other?
© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2012.
She's smiling with her eyes! A natural!
Do you ever have moments when you just can’t seem to get it in gear to do the things you usually do or intend to do? Sometimes a weird feeling comes over me that freezes me in my tracks.
For instance, this pic of my beautiful grandniece was intended to be posted yesterday as part of a Friday meme called “This Moment.” Today, I realize that the outfit my sweetie is wearing has a statute of limitations that runs out in less than seven hours, and it would be a shame to waste the shot. She’s a future America’s Next Top Model, assuming the t.v. program is around long enough.
A long time ago, I used to daydream about one day being a guest on the Phil Donahue talk show.
Somebody close to me recently told me that they like it when I blog about random thoughts, such as the one about shame, embarrassment, and guilt. When I hit the “publish” button after writing such a post, I feel exposed, but I never regret it.
I went out with the “ladies who breakfast” this morning. That was fun and always a pleasure to see you all! Once again, may all our dreams come true in 2012! <3
People compliment me on all the projects I juggle and how much I’m able to accomplish, though I never seem to think I’m doing enough.
The enigmatic “they” say that whatever activity you’re doing at the turn of the year is what you’ll be doing during the year. I’ll be writing as the clock strikes midnight–or more likely flipping channels between the Twilight Zone and Honeymooners marathons. Don’t cry for me; I’ll be happy as a pig in slop.
It’s been six years since I quit but today I wish I had a cigarette.
Doing things you’re afraid to do is a rush. Use that knowledge for good, not evil.
Happy New Year!
© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2011
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A photo–no words–capturing a moment from the past week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment–a moment I want to pause, savor, and remember.
“This Moment” is a ritual found on Life inspired by the Wee Man adopted from SouleMama. which was introduced to me by many, many bloggers, including Living With Food Allergies and Celiac Disease.
If you have a {this moment} post, please leave your link in the comment section so I can stop by and take a look!
© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2011.
If you follow me on any of several social network platforms, it is quite possible that you have heard about my new venture–a monthly event called the Third Sunday Blog Carnival, hosted at its own site. The first edition will be posted on January 15, 2012.
In short, a blog carnival functions very much like an online magazine, with links to blog posts from various contributors. The theme of the Third Sunday Blog Carnival is poetry, fiction, and essays about writing.
Why would I start such a project? Would it surprise you to hear that I love discovering and curating? To be able to combine that activity with my passion for all things literary is just plain fun for me.
Beyond my personal geekiness, I believe that interest in the printed word is alive and that readers are looking for more than what is commercially available in the mainstream markets. I truly hope that as the news spreads, readers will come to the Third Sunday Blog Carnival to sample the abundance of great writing available on the internet. By the same token, I hope that this will grow into a community where writers are supportive of each other.
I know I speak for a great many writers when I say that all we want is a chance for our work to be read. How many great blog posts out there have had a limited number of reads? Perhaps with some concentrated effort, more of our work will see the light of day.
When I conducted my research on blog carnivals, I noticed a void in the area of writing that I hope the Third Sunday Blog Carnival can fill. In addition, there was a general lack of focus. For instance, I saw blog carnivals about spirituality with links from SEO experts, auto mechanics, and anyone else who happened to apply, I suppose.
From that, I was determined to see to it that any blog carnival I ran would adhere strictly to guidelines established from the outset. With the Third Sunday Blog Carnival, I think I have come up with guidelines that greatly increase the chance for quality submissions–and I’m not afraid to enforce them (I think this where my real-life experience as an editor on my day job comes into play). Readers will be confident about what to expect when they come to the Third Sunday Blog Carnival.
It has been just a week since I issued the call for submissions and so far the reaction has been favorable. Submissions are coming in steadily and indeed, they are good. There’s no shortage of talent in the blogiverse.
© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2011.
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A photo–no words–capturing a moment from the past week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment–a moment I want to pause, savor, and remember.
“This Moment” is a ritual found on Life inspired by the Wee Man adopted from SouleMama. which was introduced to me by many, many bloggers, including Living With Food Allergies and Celiac Disease.
If you have a {this moment} post, please leave your link in the comment section so I can stop by and take a look!
© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2011.
It’s my two-year blog anniversary!
It’s nice that my blogiversaries are in December because they coincide with the time of the year when many of us become particularly introspective and self assessing. ‘Round these parts, it’s a dark time of year in a literal sense with the short winter days and long nights. I thrive in the darkness. The darkness is where I go when I write no matter what my physical surroundings are or what I’m writing about. I’m not afraid of the dark. It’s quiet and beautiful.
If 2010 was the year in which I allowed myself to express exactly what I was feeling, 2011 was the year of running around naked experimenting with the flexibility of language. My weekly 1 + 1 Wednesday, which I started a year ago almost to the day, was the beginning of that exploration. With the help of everyone who participated in that group activity, I gained a better understanding of the relationship between words and communication between people. Another foray was a spin in the Daisy Lemmas Riff, a fun group exercise in short story writing.
This also was the year during which I participated for the first time in National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo)–a challenge of producing a poem a day for the month of April. I posted the poems here and as each day went by felt more and more raw and exposed. Oddly enough, it was a good feeling. I came to understand more clearly how my poetry relates to my everyday life. I also realized that over the years, the language of poetry has become second nature to me. Like many writers, there are times when I doubt myself but after NaPoWriMo–and my compiling an ebook of the poems I wrote that month, along with a running commentary–those same doubts don’t exist.
My favorite post this year? By far it was Like Love Hate. On the surface it is simply a chart of words that show what I like, love, and hate, in that order. However, by design, the reader had to figure everything out intuitively as nothing is spelled out explicitly. While some of the word groups have literal meanings with no ambiguity, others are more emotionally charged or have associations that are not immediately obvious. I spent weeks thinking about the concept before I wrote a single word, then days writing and editing it. In my heart of hearts, I consider it to be an experimenta
l poem.
I’m really excited about my online life for the coming year, particularly a blog carnival I’m hosting caledl Third Sunday. I’ll talk more about it in another post: Suffice it to say that it’s an unexpected turn of events but it is also something that feels like a natural thing for me to do. I’m looking forward to seeing how it grows and evolves.
Thank you so much for reading my blog. Peace and love to you for the new year and always.
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A photo–no words–capturing a moment from the past week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment–a moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
“This Moment” is a ritual found on Life inspired by the Wee Man adopted from SouleMama which was introduced to me by many, many bloggers. Mary at Living With Food Allergies and Celiac Disease finally got me to give it a try! Do visit her wonderful blog to read about family, life, and health.
If you have a {this moment} post, please leave your link in the comment section so I can stop by and take a look!
© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2011.
There are three rules for writing. Unfortunately, no one can agree what they are.
- Somerset Maugham
When I tweeted this quote some weeks ago, a friend suggested I use it as a starting point for a blog post. I thought it was a great idea because it would be my opportunity to spin this concept on its head a little.
The Pre-Rule
It may be cheating, but my rules assume that you have a good grasp on grammar. You are well read, especially in the type of writing you are interested in. When you read, you read with the mindset of a writer. You analyze what works and what doesn’t.
Every writer has a reason why she or he writes, whether it is self expression, art, education, money, attention, or some combination. You have a good idea of what being a writer means to you.
With that out of the way, the first and foremost thing to know is … Read more…
I’ve said before and still believe that, for the most part, holidays are annual reminders of things we should be mindful of every day. This upcoming Thanksgiving holiday is one such occasion and Veterans Day, which was a few weeks ago, is another.
I recently watched an HBO documentary called “Wartorn 1861-2010.” It’s about posttraumatic stress among people in the armed forces, particularly those who have witnessed the violence of active duty. It features firsthand accounts of veterans and their families over the years through letters and interviews, providing insight into the despair, the nightmares, the suicides, the self loathing, and the fear. The stories of young recruits coming back home after discharge scarred and changed forever, not to mention the graphic examples of some of the atrocities they witnessed, affected me quite deeply. It reminded me of someone I hadn’t thought of in a long time.
When I was growing up, there was a man in my neighborhood, I’ll call him Mr. Smith, who my mother told me was Read more…
What some people call guilt is really shame. As far as I’m concerned, shame is the perception that one is not enough–not good enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, not creative enough, not productive enough, whatever. It’s a primal feeling of inadequacy; maybe it’s even preverbal. While it has its roots in outside events and others may play on our shame to exert control, we perpetuate it in our own minds. Shame is useless and damaging.
Embarrassment is shame’s twin. I don’t think there is ever anything to be embarrassed about, particularly the everyday occurrences in life, the faux pas, the awkward moments, the trips, slips, burps, and farts.
But what about if you’ve wronged someone, you’ve stolen, lied, hurt, maimed?
Some would be embarrassed or ashamed to be caught in such activity. Yet they would live with with feelings as long as they are not found out. In this situation, what people should feel is guilt.
Real guilt is a necessary unpleasantness based on fact, not perception. Feeling guilty is the acknowledgment that you’ve deliberately caused someone harm. But instead of wallowing in guilt, the better way to deal with it is to rectify, learn, endeavor not do it again, take responsibility.
At least that’s what I think.
© Sweepy Jean and Sweepy Jean Explores the (Webby) World, 2011
