What do you write?

 (Taken from our family blog, accessed at tabs above, from my post in 2010.)

Ahem.

It has come to my attention that blogs can be used for all kinds of purposes.

  It is so completely obvious that our family's blog is the rosy, perfect facade

 of the peaks of our lives.  True, it's good to let everyone know how we are,

 what is happening (like the Christmas Letters) but there is so much more.

  I've seen so many uses for a blog---family business, venting,

 speaking out on issues...even therapy.  Like journaling.

Which leads me to the question of the day.

So what do you put in your journal? 

 The rosy perfect stuff, so your grandkids

 will think they came from perfect stock

 (and thus feel unworthy, or possibly make them reach higher...)

 or do you tell THE REAL DEAL? 

 I have stacks of journals

 starting when I was 12ish, some with tear stains,

 a few pages with blood on them.

  I've considered abridging them into one perfect personal history...

but this question of authenticity has been preventing progression.

I've always been a realist kind of a person.  Some dislike it, others really appreciate it.

  But I do it for me.

  Being honest and not wearing a mask has been my mantra for years.

  Let's face it, lots of Mormon people wear masks.  And non-Mormon too, of course.

  But as I get older, will I?

The Old Stuff

I was always an artist---not with words, but with colors and shapes. I mostly used acrylics or oils, but also enjoyed charcoal for it's shocking contrast to the white page.

I don't say "always an artist" with a sense of accomplishment or pride...more like "that was my thing." It's what I liked to do more than anything else. This painting of three colorful horses is my reproduction of another artist's work. I loved it because they were obviously depicting three different stages in the life of a woman, and did it using unconventional colors. Or maybe three stages in my life. I see myself as the strong, confident horse in the back, having left exciting, fun youth and child-bearing (sad but peaceful) years behind.

After having an autistic son, a mini-me daughter, and managing a family for 20 years, I have trained myself to use other parts of my brain. Finding time---or making time to access the creative artsy side and paint or draw has been almost impossible. What has emerged, however, with all this planning and raising and teaching and advocating is love of word-arranging. Like you would arrange a half dozen types of flowers into one vase, or choose colors to make a room pop, I now like to arrange words in ways that make you stop and think.

To Blog or Not To Blog...

Yes, I know, this is my blog. But blogging is like, a thing now----should I do it?
 
There are varying opinions on both sides of this question. Here's one:
http://janefriedman.com/2013/03/15/its-time-for-many-experienced-writers-to-stop-blogging/

The author, L.L. Barkat, is specifically talking about writers writing blogs, especially experienced, accomplished writers.

And here's another:

http://www.becomingminimalist.com/15-reasons-i-think-you-should-blog/

The benefits this author, Joshua Becker, has experienced through blogging, and thus blogged about, are compelling, and desirable to me.

Let's suppose I become a more consistent, regular blogger---what would I write about?
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” —William Wordsworth
If anything, my blog would be REAL and passionate, and of course, rambling.

I have a blogging class this weekend here in Bloomington at WWfaC. Maybe that'll make up my mind.