"Self Editing"

Early this morning I read dozens of "next blog" entries. Somehow I ended up in ones written in foreign languages and lost interest. Otherwise I might have read on for several more hours. I am reading two blogs written by people I know and I occasionally read the blog of a doctor I know but he writes as a "character". I enjoy the blogs because they keep me up to date on the person's goings on and occasionally I catch a glimpse of the person's deepest cares and concerns.

The strangers' blogs seemed to be either extreme openness or the total opposite, guarded and protected. Some bloggers made me feel like I was sitting in their living room, listening to their deepest thoughts and emotions, sharing the core of their lives. Maybe it was raw and uncomfortable but it was also meaningful and worthwhile. Other blogs felt like I was driving by their house and seeing them and their family playing in the yard. I wondered what caused people to write from their heart about very personal issues, grief, sorrow, loss, disappointment, while others seemed like on line family scrapbooks.

I find it hard to write exactly what I'm thinking because I immediately wonder what others will think and also my written words have been used against me in the past and that causes me
to "self-edit". Many blog writers probably just want a place to document a hobby, or day to day life occurrences, or display pictures of their families. Others seem to blog as therapy
and pour out their thoughts, hoping someone, somewhere will read and feel a connection, an
understanding of their particular plight. Some might say that is the place for a "diary" but this
is 2011 and diaries are no longer hidden with the key safely hanging on a piece of ribbon around our neck.

I guess it is all up to you and me, writer and readers, to determine what is safe to say and what we want to read. I'm always looking for the depth of emotion, glimpses of a person's true thoughts and perceptions. As for sharing those myself, I'm still a bit skittish but other times it just falls out of me...the true me, for better or worse.