Tuesday, May 23, 2006

emotional blog fodder?

Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out how to approach blogging. I frequently find myself struggling with what is acceptable to be blogging about, or what translates onto the written page well...and as a result, I get some sort of writers block and post nothing at all.

In terms of blog fodder, being able to share the things in my life that are funny and quirky is a no brainer. And I think that I have moments of artistic creativity that might prove to be an interesting read. But frequently in my life I find myself wading knee deep in some intense (although I believe, interesting) emotional process...and I just can't figure out whether or not it has a place here.

Right now I have so much "knee deep" stuff going on, it doesn't even feel right to be posting the funny quirky stuff. Sure, I have some funny photos, and I could tell you about knitting, and the dance show I saw Saturday night....but it's not an accurate reflection of the person sitting here at the keypad at this moment. And I've never been much of a poser. It's not that the funny-quirky-creative things aren't a part of me, too...it's just that it feels extremely disingenuine (is that a word?) to not be including the other, more emotional, parts of myself.

The challenge for me in writing about things emotional, is that I can't always get emotions to translate easily onto the written page. It kind of reminds me of how Eskimos have some large number of words to describe "snow".... it's as if I just don't have the right vocabulary sometimes. It also reminds me of my belief that the distance between the head and the heart is "the longest 18 inches." Two points relatively close together in space, but sometimes so very far apart. And so even though I might be in touch with my feelings, turning them into words seems to be a challenge.

Does this make sense??
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So I was just about to give one of these emotional topics a whirl for you, but it's in relation to prosthesis...and will make much more sense if illustrated with photos.
Except blogger is being a pain and uploading isn't happening right now.
I'll try again later today...stay tuned ;-)


**quickie note: thanks to all of the commenters who have said hello or come out of lurking!! It's so nice to hear from everyone! Your email addresses don't come along with your comments to me for some reason...so I'm not able to quickly reply back (which I'd like to do), unless I start clicking around on your profiles and blogs. I haven't had the time to do that because I've been maxed with extra appointments in the last two weeks (related to the prosthetist issue mentioned above), and I haven't had time to keep up. But hello!!! And thank you!! :-)

1 comments:

Gray said...

One of the nice things about blogging is that you are in charge. You are the captain of your own blog and can freely decide what to share with us and how to share it.

I think that you have created a really good mix of entries and themes in your blog. There's the quirky and the silly, but also the serious, newsy, the evocative, and etries that are just plain interesting. I appreciate your efforts and attention here. You aren't in any danger of being abandoned for another blogger, at least by me.

Whether your issues have a place here is entirely up to you. I am certain that we would all be interested, empathetic, and supportive, whatever you wish to talk about.

If you feel too vulnerable to share in this relatively public blog, you can always write for yourself- one of my favorite cathartic activities. There is also nothing to prevent you from creating a super-secret private blog and inviting only those you trust the most, or from emailing your explorations to your closest correspondents.

Wading knee deep or more into the deeper and darker waters of your emotional life is one of the best aepects of blogging. It's not for wimps, but anybody who reads your blog knows that you are made of sturdy fiber- all natural and hand spun, of course.

Translating emotions to the virtual page is more art than science. Often the best ways to communicate your cares and experiences are most effectively said through the languages of art and inference. Inference tells us that two points close in space lie on different continents in the domain of the heart, or that the intervening space is impossible to traverse on the fractured landscape of our distress. There is always poetry. You can talk about something that happened so we can infer feelings, or talk about what you feel without diverting our attention to facts or events.

Anyway, I hope that all is resolved in time and in the best possible way.

-Gray