When I was younger, we lived near an amusement park called Adventureland.
I loved going to Adventureland . . . going on rides, playing games, eating cotton candy. But one of my favorite things was the fun house.
There was something fascinating about standing in front of each of those mirrors.
One made me look about 3 feet tall and 3 feet wide.
One made me look like I had a shrunken head and a ginormous body. (My husband recently told me that ginormous is not actually a word. I said, "How can it not be a word . . . I've been saying it forever?" He claimed that just because I say it doesn't make it an actual word. I'm pretty sure he's wrong about that.)
One made me look about seven feet tall and as thin as a pencil.
And there was one that made me look like me, but just a bit better version of me . . . you know a few inches taller and a few inches thinner. The me I secretly (well, not so secretly now) wished that I was. I stood in the front of that particular mirror much longer than the others. I loved that fun house mirror!
Today I'm confessing that I feel like my blog is a little like that last mirror.
I'm just a bit sweeter, wittier, more creative on my blog than I am in real life. My blog makes me "look" like me . . . just a bit better version of me.
Every time someone writes me an e-mail saying something like . . .
"You are so sweet."
"What an amazing idea! You are so creative!"
"You always seem to make me laugh."
. . . I think, "Yep, the fun house mirror at work again," and I feel a bit guilty that some of you actually believe I'm that better version of me you "see" on this blog.
But I think the real confession is that I kind of like the me I am on this blog, and I kind of enjoy being a bit sweeter, wittier, and more creative than the me I am in real life. So maybe . . . just maybe . . . this blog has actually inspired me to be that person in real life.
How about you? What has your blog inspired you to do or be in real life?
Confess on!
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11 comments:
No matter how hard I try, I cannot get my blog to make me look skinny. LOL
I love this post, and your candor. I appreciate that you believe you are the "better" version of you when you post and that your blog inspires you to be the better you.
My blog has inspired me to think more creatively in all aspects of my life. I tend to compartmentalize, the uncreative side of me at work and the creative side of me at home. My blog inspires me to be the creative side both at work and at home.
I am the person on my blog that many of my close friends know, but that some other people never have taken the time to know. Hope that makes sense. I have relatives who read my blog in several states and because we have always lived apart from each other, they now feel like they are getting to know me! I love blogging and sharing the real me. Well, most of the time. Sometimes I leave out the whining but if I'm feeling really bad, I do a little of that, too. :-)
I love your Tuesday posts. It's kind of like therapy thinking about this stuff. And I love the comments. I'm with Mindy. I'd like my blog to make me look a little skinnier. :)
I sometimes think I'm more "me" on my blog and by email than I am in real life. I'm not always so good at talking to people, or saying what I think in person. But when I write it I have time to think through it and I can say what I want and mean.
So maybe it's good practice, like you said, for being that person with people face to face. :) Someday.
another great post, Elizabeth!!
I'm really enjoying your confession posts - they make me think!
I feel like my "blog persona" is one side of me - the creative crafty side that otherwise would be swamped by the everyday chores of being a wife and mummy. Since I've started blogging I have tried things I haven't done before and enjoyed having the forum to share them.
I'd like to think its still the "real" me - and maybe a side that not all my friends and family have seen.
Oh elizabeth, I love your confessions! You have such a talent for bringing up topics that everyone can relate to. Or do you...? ;)
I think that is the beauty of the virtual world -- you can create yourself as any person you want to be. When I was in jr high I was very self-conscious and quiet and really quite the bookworm-nerd. I decided that I didn't want to be that shy forever, so I started faking it until it became who I was. The movie Legally Blonde actually played a large part in this... anyway... I think you've hit the nail on the head. We can fake (or just exaggerate) who we are online and then hopefully that makes us more like that in real life. For example, I really don't like when people only whine and complain on their blogs (mostly personal blogs), so I have made a very specific point NOT to do that on my blog. And then this has translated into my life. If I won't blog like that, I tend to not talk like that. And that makes me sound a little crazy, but you know what I mean!
Very well put. We get to edit and consider the self that we showcase, and hopefully that means we are all a better version of ourselves. Does the sense of pride it gives us improve our whole-selves? I sure hope so!
I feel just the same! I think I am a better blogger than I am person. But you are right, hopefully it will become my reality. I love my blog because it has resulted in a lot more creativity in my life and that usually makes me a happier person.
Oh most definitely!
I just recently received read a few blogs that posted crafts or recipes gone wrong. I have to say how much I LOVE these posts! Of course on our posts, we always post our best pictures, our best results and never show the rest of it or the other days.
Thanks so much for your wonderful post, I am so glad I found your blog!
Was adventureland in Iowa, because I used to go to an adventureland in des moines iowa. Just wondering. I loved the fun house mirrors too. Thanks for the memory!
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