At risk of stating the obvious, keeping a public blog can be a rather daunting and intimidating prospect.
In some ways, I have a lot of flexibility. The “alphabet salad” nature of this particular blog makes targeting a specific audience an exercise in frustration, so I made the decision right from the start that each entry I posted here would be written to please an audience of one: myself. While not restricting myself to living up to the expectations of a niche audience does bring a great deal of freedom, it also means facing some very real feelings of discomfort, knowing that something I say here may upset or anger someone who didn’t expect to read what I was writing.
My instinct, sometimes, is to back away and stop writing anything for public consumption… to avoid taking the risk that I might hurt someone or say the “wrong” thing, or expose myself to questioning or judgement.
But honestly, that’s not what I really want to do.
Despite the fact that I’m writing primarily to please myself, I would be foolish to say that positive words from others didn’t thrill me. Walking away from making my posts available for others to read would protect me from the possibility of hurt or criticism, yes, but it would also eliminate the potential joy of connecting with others through what I have to say in this small corner of the internet.
So for the moment, rational thought prevails! I’m not going anywhere.
NaBloPoMo entry/discussions
