Monday, October 22, 2007

More Blogger Honesty

We all have images in our heads of the person we want to be or become. I know I did - and still do. I also know that it has taken two years for my blog to really take on my real personality. I look back in my archives and while I remember the things I wrote, I sometimes don't recognize the person writing them. Does that make sense?


I guess it took me a while to find myself in blogdom.

When I acquire my new blog template (and I AM going to, by the way. Victory, at last!), I want it to really convey who I am. I want what I blog about to paint a true and accurate picture of...well, me. I think it is so easy to hide behind the cute pictures and anecdotal little stories all the while fooling all of blogdom into thinking you're something you're not. A farce, if I may.

Now, don't get your dainties in a dither here. I'm not writing all of this to confess to you that I've been blogging a lie and that I'm really some big, hairy man, typing from my basement in Wisconsin. All the while eating large quantities of cheese. And nuts. Roasted and salted.

I'm not. Really. I am in fact a wo-man (key word here, y'all) in Texas (sometimes hairy I suppose), typing on either my teenage son's laptop or a desktop in a garage office , which by the way also holds the cat litter and my husbands desk, trying to nurse a 3 month old baby, homeschooling a 7 year old, attempting to homeschool a 4 year old and looking at the mountain of laundry on my love seat that I should be folding instead of blogging. But hey, I'm nursing the baby, right? Oh. And eating large quantities of chocolate. Large quantities of cheese? It DO bad things to me. Yep. Bad things.

My point is that sometimes things are not what they seem. As women, in particular, I find that this can get us into a heap 'o' trouble. We start seeing other women's blogs and their crafts, and their neat and tidy homes (but I'm not bitter.), and their frugal finds and we start becoming discontent with what we have. We want what they have.

So, what do we do? We start trying to do more crafts or sewing... while neglecting our homes. We start trying to find the best frugal deals so we can ever so proudly post our pictures on the blog, BUT never minding the fact that we shouldn't have spent the money in the first place. We start begging our husbands for new blog templates so we can be like the other bloggers. I would never do that last one. Ever.

I'm not even going to touch the neat and tidy house part. No sirree. Ain't even goin' there.

Honestly, while I'm fairly certain that most of the momma/homemaker bloggers out there are honest folk, I do think it would be pretty easy to paint a picture that perhaps might not be totally accurate. Or worse yet, the way we interpret them might be slightly skewed. I'm just sayin' unless we really know these people, like in real life know them, we really don't know what goes on behind the blog, so we need not make assumptions.


I'm not trying to write some expose entitled Bloggers That Lead Double Lives - Did They Really Save That Much At CVS? I'm just wanting to convey the fact that I want to be myself. I don't want anybody to think that I have it all together (ROFL) or that I can do this or that and that they should be doing it too.

Please don't think I'm slamming or insulting the blogs that focus on the things I mentioned above. I am not at all. I DO read them and enjoy them. Immensely. If you're a naturally crafty, neat and tidy (Heaven bless you!), and frugal all in one then I think that is positively fantastic! Really, I do. I have friends that are like that and I love them.

I think it is great to go and read someone else's blog and gain inspiration or motivation from them. I do this on a regular basis. I especially love the recipes. Recipes R Good. I just think we need to be careful. Careful not to start coveting what we don't have or can't do. Careful not to let it breed discontentment in our lives. Careful not to forget that glorifying God should be our chief end.

So, I guess I've blabbered on for forever and a lifetime to say this: I want people to enjoy reading here. I want to be who I am (y'all know..the unorganization thing, and all). I want people to see me for me. Especially other mothers or homemakers who struggle with insecurity or doing it "all" (as I do sometimes). I want people to see that I struggle with my walk with the Lord. More importantly, I want to give God the glory for all things. Good or bad.

Believe it or not, y'all help me with all of these things. Y'all keep me accountable for what I type. And those that know me for real, know I'm unorganized. These are good things. They keep me honest. They keep me humble. They keep me looking to God to help me in all of these areas.

I know y'all deserve some sort of reward for reading this novel 'til the end. The fact that you made it this far and didn't quit after the 437th paragraph tells me that y'all are good people.

Yep. Good people.

5 comments:

mindi said...

I wish you lived near me - I KNOW we would be great friends.
Again, I could have written your post (except I would never have the courage to homeschool). Whoops, right now Lex is pulling out the wipes from the box. And my house is a mess, totally unorganized, and I SO want to change that.
But you are right. We should not covet! I need to work on that.
Oh, and I had to laugh at the big hairy man part!! Ha!

Michelle said...

I think we would most definitely be kindred spirits! :) It amazes me the friendships we can make through blogging.
Also, if we lived close you could teach me how to take a decent picture! Cause you have mad photography skills girl!

Anonymous said...

Again you hit the nail on the head. We all want it all, but if we all had it all, we wouldn't need each other. So, you come teach me how to shop frugally and I'll help you organize that pantry.

Michelle said...

Good point about needing each other. LOVE. THAT.

My pantry IS organized, including all of the labels facing forward. It's the REST of the house that's a mess!

Love ya girl!

Mandi said...

how did you get such a wonderful background? I am new to blogspot!