Repressed Librarian - The Real Me
August 5th, 2006Warning: Lots of grammatical errors ahead. That’s not important to me right now. Put away those red pens.
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Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever come across this blog before. What an experience I just had.
You see, she blogs from the heart and is honest about herself and how she feels about, well, life. By reading the past few months of her posts, I feel like I know her. Why? Because she makes no claims to anything. She talks about her personal life, which is very hard to do, especially the topics she chooses. I believe in making my blog go beyond the professional and discuss the “real me” (The Who once sang, “Can you see the real me, can you”?).
I’m not saying that every blogger should talk about personal stuff. I’ve learned that telling others to do something is plain stupid and will only get me into trouble. But, when I read a blog like Repressed Librarian, I ask myself, what do I really know about the people behind the blogs that I read?
The answer? Not much. And that’s really sad. Maybe it’s because I don’t see many bloggers anymore, don’t chat with them on IM (I haven’t launched Meebo or Skype in months - that’s for a different post), and don’t really e-mail anybody anymore. But, as our blogs become part of our lives, an appendix of our beings; as we start to be more honest with ourselves and our readership (because they will call us out if we lie or bend the truth), why, I wonder, do we not personalize on our blogs more?
I put pictures of my family and write about them on my blog now. It’s part of who I am. And what I am thinking. And what my life is about. Sure, I have somewhat of a professional life, and blog about the profession as well. But as the kids grow and my familial relationships flourish, I notice that my professional relationships have stagnated. I’m on the verge of some very big decisions in my professional life (not job related, I love my job!), and it’s the lack of professional contacts that are pushing me in one direction over another.
Anyway, when I read blogs these days, I love reading about personal stuff. New babies, marriages, relationships. But the troubling parts of our lives that are blogged about are more impressive. Putting yourself out there is very hard and takes a lot of gut and heart. So, props for those that do can do it.
And for those who can’t or don’t or won’t talk about your personal lives with us, I, as a reader of your blog, won’t see the “real you”. The person behind the blog. The personal emotions. The feeling. And that’s ok. We’ll just have a professional relationship, for whatever that is worth these days. 