personal things
What is it that makes me hesitate to share personal things in this space? And it's not just me. Some of my favorite reads also tiptoe around their personal lives. In my case it's not fear for my privacy. It's more... Do you want to hear them? Do I want to share them? Is this not the place?
Like Diane said on CraftyPod this week, "On blogs, we’re often holding up things we’ve made and saying 'Isn’t this cool?' and then people reply with some variation on 'Yes, that’s really cool!'" It's not that this kind of show and tell is a bad thing. It's fun. It's inspirational! It's just that I want to do more than that. I want to be a real person that people can relate to.
I don't really know where this is going today, but I feel moved to be personal. I'm thinking...
*How it feels absolutely stifling to work on a quilt knowing that I may enter into the QuiltCon quilt show. Do I really want to invite others to judge my work? To notice the way my points (don't) match? Am I kidding myself that my work is possibly good enough?
*How if I ask you if I should submit Quilt X, many sweet voices will rush to say that I should. And, possibly... many sweet voices will not admit that they disagree, just because they don't want to hurt my feelings. So those voices won't speak up even though I'd specifically asked. Is there a way to be honest, yet kind in this space?
*That I haven't been out in my garden for two weeks. Oh, the weeds! I promise to give my tomatoes some love tonight (for a very short while after which I will dutifully return to the hand-stitching!)
*That yesterday was our last day of homeschool, since we run first of August through April. I'm so proud of how nicely this year went. Those crayons are done well worn out. I'm so excited for next year! And, I kind of want to tell you some about it, but I don't know where to start... I know, I'll just start a homeschool blog too! Not.
*Honestly, my favorite bloggers stick to a genre. I think it's powerful to do so, to self-edit because you all can identify with my sewing, but you can't all identify with my homeschooling or my garden or my love for Egyptian historical fiction. I don't regret self-editing, but I also don't want to get so narrow that you all don't actually know me.
*Do you think you know me or other sewing bloggers that you read? I know, really know, some of the bloggers I read. I've had the experience of meeting some and finding them just as expected. Well, just as expected and maybe even a little bit More. Authenticity is so crucial.
*Ok, here's another thing. Jealousy. There's this bee that I absolutely love (the concept of) and totally wish I'd been invited to join. Maybe this has happened to you? I've tossed around the idea of creating a bee like the one I so admire. But then, I'm a copycat. But then, we're all copycats.
End of personal sharing.
Question: How personal are you as a blogger (if applicable) and how personal do you desire your craft blogs to read? Assuming you'd rather be spared intimate or tedious details, how much do you appreciate the background snippets that some craft bloggers share?
Anna Maria Horner is one of my favorite bloggers, and I think that (apart from her genius) it is because she so beautifully blends in her posts her craft and her personality. Think about some of your favorite bloggers. Do they share the personal?
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| image by Shutter Sugar Photography via Flickr |
Like Diane said on CraftyPod this week, "On blogs, we’re often holding up things we’ve made and saying 'Isn’t this cool?' and then people reply with some variation on 'Yes, that’s really cool!'" It's not that this kind of show and tell is a bad thing. It's fun. It's inspirational! It's just that I want to do more than that. I want to be a real person that people can relate to.
I don't really know where this is going today, but I feel moved to be personal. I'm thinking...
*How it feels absolutely stifling to work on a quilt knowing that I may enter into the QuiltCon quilt show. Do I really want to invite others to judge my work? To notice the way my points (don't) match? Am I kidding myself that my work is possibly good enough?
*How if I ask you if I should submit Quilt X, many sweet voices will rush to say that I should. And, possibly... many sweet voices will not admit that they disagree, just because they don't want to hurt my feelings. So those voices won't speak up even though I'd specifically asked. Is there a way to be honest, yet kind in this space?
*That I haven't been out in my garden for two weeks. Oh, the weeds! I promise to give my tomatoes some love tonight (for a very short while after which I will dutifully return to the hand-stitching!)
*That yesterday was our last day of homeschool, since we run first of August through April. I'm so proud of how nicely this year went. Those crayons are done well worn out. I'm so excited for next year! And, I kind of want to tell you some about it, but I don't know where to start... I know, I'll just start a homeschool blog too! Not.
*Honestly, my favorite bloggers stick to a genre. I think it's powerful to do so, to self-edit because you all can identify with my sewing, but you can't all identify with my homeschooling or my garden or my love for Egyptian historical fiction. I don't regret self-editing, but I also don't want to get so narrow that you all don't actually know me.
*Do you think you know me or other sewing bloggers that you read? I know, really know, some of the bloggers I read. I've had the experience of meeting some and finding them just as expected. Well, just as expected and maybe even a little bit More. Authenticity is so crucial.
*Ok, here's another thing. Jealousy. There's this bee that I absolutely love (the concept of) and totally wish I'd been invited to join. Maybe this has happened to you? I've tossed around the idea of creating a bee like the one I so admire. But then, I'm a copycat. But then, we're all copycats.
End of personal sharing.
Question: How personal are you as a blogger (if applicable) and how personal do you desire your craft blogs to read? Assuming you'd rather be spared intimate or tedious details, how much do you appreciate the background snippets that some craft bloggers share?
Anna Maria Horner is one of my favorite bloggers, and I think that (apart from her genius) it is because she so beautifully blends in her posts her craft and her personality. Think about some of your favorite bloggers. Do they share the personal?