Blogging is a strange thing. On the one hand, I've had 2 emails in one day from far-flung friends who told me they love getting a glimpse of what our life looks like and what I'm thinking about, which made me feel like the blog is fulfilling its purpose. However, what I don't want it to be is what I have been critical of in other blogs - a "hey, look at me! look how amazing I am" (not that I even think that of myself), or a place to seek validation from friends and strangers that my life is worth living, or an awkward, if not embarrassing baring of the soul to the whole wide world (or anyone who might stumble on the site).
This is not my journal. That thing is sadly in need of a good dusting and some attention of its own, but when it gets that, it will be for me and me alone. I see this as a totally different annal for our family life and to some extent, me; I like having a place to compile photos with a description of a meal or a family day, or a link to something that caught my attention so that it's not forgotten or misplaced among all the days and events to come. But I feel uneasy about this kind of medium being public because it's so easy to give off the impression that "life is but a dream" and I never have days of despair and frustration. Some would see the answer in blogging equally about the crappy days, but quite honestly, that's too personal a thing for me to put out there in any kind of medium except a glass of wine with some girlfriends, or said dusty journal.
The blogs I enjoy the most are blogs like this one. Anyone who knows Blythe will tell you what an amazing girl she is, but she never gives off the impression that she needs people telling her that. She is able to blog about her interests and likes without the least sense of pretension or superiority and since I live 2,000 miles away from her, I love wandering over to her site every few days to see what's going on in the dear girl's head. Her tagline reads "life is worth writing about" which isn't mutually exclusive- everyone's life is valuable and worth celebrating and this is how I hope my friends and family see La Bon Vie. Until I come to terms with this little blog o' mine, though, I guess I'm writing this to salve my own conflicted conscience.
