Yes, we are still here. I've made a discovery: when life gives me lemons, I feel a greater desire to blog.
However, family members who may be responsible for those lemons don't appreciate being the subject of the blog posts.
It may come as a surprise that I’ve never enjoyed keeping a journal, given that I manage to blog enthusiastically about essentially nothing most of the time. The problem (for me) with journaling is that it’s private, and I tend to broadcast my stresses to whomever will listen. Like many extroverts, I think best when I am talking, and like to talk out my problems with others. Even though blogging isn’t the same as talking, it feels like communication with others and is therefore rewarding to me.
Until there are problems too personal for the blog. That’s the case right now. No one over the age of three in the family is exactly open to living out an online reality narrative when it comes to Really Hard Stuff, and I can’t blame them. (Cavities and fury over one’s wardrobe are one thing; personal issues are another). The challenge for a certain extroverted blogger is that when jagged emotions are lurking just below the surface, making even the usual act of venting to friends painful, the blog would really serve a need, but it can’t be utilized.
And now, a light smack on my own head, in the form of a quote I like:
When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?"
- Sydney Harris
