I Am So Going to Blog That
So… to return to the post on Sunday… blogging has changed but bloggers have changed, too. I was circumspect from the get-go — the twins were people in MY story vs. being the focus of my story — but I used to go through my day and sometimes internally note, “I am so going to blog that.”
A case in point: the potato chip factory tour fiasco. I knew while we still on the road that the story was going to end up on my blog. It captured one of my many many many spectacular moments of not-thinking. As we were living the day, I was noting, “this is so us.” I wanted to remember it. I wanted other people to know it because I felt like it captured our family: Josh ever patient, the ChickieNob having an existential crisis, the agreeable Wolvog happy if potato chips were involved, and Melissa exuberantly not-planning a factory tour.
There were other moments like that, too. The tooth fairy fiasco and the talk about evolution; times where I thought as the moment unfolded: I am so going to blog this. Or non-twin moments. When I got to be the press pool note taker. I knew as I was living the moment that I would end up writing about it.
I even had a t-shirt that I got at BlogHer one year that said, “I am so going to blog this.” It was totally see-through. It was immediately relegated to workout clothes.
The point I’m making is that I don’t go through my day thinking those words anymore. It’s not that exciting or funny things don’t happen. It’s just that the impulse isn’t there. The twins say funny things all the time. I do interesting things sometimes. And sometimes as things are happening, I have a vague flutter in the back of my head: Should I write about this? And then the internal answer: Maybe? Would anyone else find it funny? Do I even have time?
And then the moment passes.
I’m willing to bet that I’m not the only person who stopped thinking, “I’m so going to blog this.” Life is still just as full. It just doesn’t seem quite as story-worthy; either because it’s just one more example of something I’ve already said before or because I’ve entered a different stage in life. Not everything gets captured in the word net, thrown up on the blog for posterity.
5 comments
Interesting change – I hear you about not being as “wow, I need to blog this” now. Though I started blogging when blogs were in “decline” as the social media forums of choice (but I am both a long form writer and the sort of personality that defiantly will hang on to no-longer-technologically-hip stuff that makes me happy until someone pries it out of my fingers/browser), I definitely had more urgency at the beginning. And perhaps there’s something rather apt about the see-through quality of the tee – I’ve learned that there are some things I keep private for various reasons. Sometimes it’s not my story to tell even if it’s something that really moved/affected me. That’s a current balance I’m working on – while I blog semi-anonymously and really don’t have any issues with people knowing big pieces of my story, I’m a bit more hesitant when it’s my husband, kids, or friends that feature heavily in the story.
I did, however, love reading the posts you linked to, most of which happened before I started reading here – particularly the evolution post which had me actually laughing out loud.
So interesting for you write and share this today… Last night I had an experience and immediately felt compelled to write/blog about it. I started the post, but haven’t finished it. I may share it or I may not. That happens more than it used to, where I write some or all of a post and then sometimes decide to keep it to myself. I used to journal a lot, before I began blogging in 2007. At that point I almost completely stopped journaling. I wonder sometimes how knowing I will likely share what I write impacts what I write. I’ve considered journaling again lately, just for me. But haven’t. Anyway, some of my thoughts after reading your post. And I know I will still go back to that post and thank you there, because I have it open on my laptop, but in the meantime, thank you so much for highlighting my post about Molly 11th birthday in your Blog Round Up That week. Receiving your validation about one of my posts never gets old to me, it makes me feel so special. Thank you for continuing to write and share here. You are still one of my favorite writers/bloggers, even if I don’t read or comment on everything you post. Please keep blogging about things, I love your perspective on life.
I have to say that a lot of the more negative experiences in my life, I still go, well, at least this will make for an entertaining blog post at some point in the future. See: current post on DH’s recent rabies scare.
I loved re-reading the potato chip story. So funny.
What you’re saying is true for me, too. In my early blogging days I was always on the lookout for amusing things happening that I could share with my bloggy friends (looking at your comments made me miss so many people). In fact, the saving grace of annoyances or irritations or frustrations was that I could eventually get a blog post out of them!
But it is different now. To confirm your post’s premise, both the blogsphere and I have changed.
As someone who blogged way back when and then picked it up again in recent years due to life circumstances, I agree that blogging is completely different. What’s also different is that because of all the mediums out there, especially social media, oversharing is the new game in town. Quick, fast, and instant gratification with Likes/Comments/Shares. Why put in the time and effort into a thoughtful blog post when you can connect with 140+ characters.
People don’t realize (or don’t care?) that everything they post is public and permanent, no matter what privacy settings are set. It still boggles my mind what some people will write under their own name, at times to the detriment of their family or careers.
Blogging is more intimate, less superficial, and still has a modicum of privacy under a pseudonym. When I share on my blog it’s as much of an outlet or a vent for me as it is trying to record my history. Even so, I still filter out things that are just for me to remember. Privacy and confidentiality are too underrated.