The Problem with Blogging

October 10th, 2010 at 2:10 pm.

I’ve always been a pretty self-reflective, always dreaming up extremely vivid images of what kind of life I want to lead and what kind of person I want to be. I think blogging has factored into this a lot in the past few years. Blogs constantly expose you to a multitude of life choices, crazy adventures, and differing attitudes. In a weird way, it was reading blogs – mom blogs and blogs of people working for themselves, in particular – that made me realize I didn’t want to work in entertainment, because I wanted a more “regular” life, and that influence hasn’t gone away yet. Being constantly exposed to other people’s lives in this way allows me to see how other people are living on a weekly basis and see if they are living the kind of life I want for myself.

The problem with this, and with me, really, is that I have terrible “grass is greener” syndrome. Even as I’ve been happy with my life, I’m always seeing the awesome, cool, interesting, and exotic things OTHER people are doing. I see people eating at amazing restaurants, going on hot air balloon rides, creating a ball-pit in their living room, traveling the world, staring their own businesses, decorating adorable apartments, getting married, going to grad school…I see all these things, and I think, THOSE are the types of things I want – the interesting lives with the new, small adventures, with the adorable outfits and the Etsy adorned apartment and the fun, entrepreneurial new job….

Lately, I’ve come to realize, however, that what we see on blogs is SUCH a small slice of people’s lives, and not just any slice, the slice people *choose* to share with the world. We sometimes see the struggles, but always protected and monitored, always as a small chunk of the image. We don’t see the daily grind, the annoying traffic, the family frustrations, the utter heartbreaks, and the boring days. The more bloggers I’ve met in real the life, the more evident this has become to me. As much as we know and share with each other, we don’t know that much *just* from reading blogs. People are doing these fun, cool, adventurous things, but they are also living real life. Just like I am.

With this realization, it has been my mission to think about how my life could (or would) be perceived (if I actually blogged about it on a regular basis, that is), and what people may see in me, when you take away all that daily grind crap.

My blog would show that I love my job, stress and crazy kids and all. It would show that I have a great adorable teacher boyfriend who loves me. It would show that I do go on some crazy adventures, like hitting up Disneyland with these lovely folks and having a heart attack on Space Mountain, like going with my best friend to see Maroon 5 at the Greek theater, and like going with my hilarious co-workers to Drag Bingo in West Hollywood. It would show that I do have some cute Etsy jewelry. I do go to fun restaurants that have been featured on “The Best Thing I ever Ate,” and even though it isn’t super decorated, I do have a pretty sweet apartment.

Someone reading would look at my life and not see the disorganized room, the hour of me in sitting (and screaming) in traffic, the pain of getting up at 5AM, and the lack of decoration in my apartment, but they would see someone who has a pretty good life. And it is definitely the life I want.

9 notes ( Reply )

  1. Amy --- Just A Titch
    Oct 10, 2010 @ 3:05 pm

    I think blogging is such a double-edged sword: you are exposed to a variety of different lifestyles, hobbies and people which can be amazing, but it can also make one incredibly envious. I think that sometimes we only show a slice of ourselves on a blog, too—things often seem much prettier on a blog than they might be in real life.

    Regardless, I HEAR YOU. Completely. I also aggressively love and adore you.

  2. nicopolitan
    Oct 11, 2010 @ 3:40 am

    Bloggers do live life in public, but their “public lives” are definitely different from their everyday lives.

    This post makes me think, though – what if blogging just becomes a bigger slice of the same life? What can we show from our everyday lives and make it post-worthy, and not driving-a-point-into-the-ground?

    Maybe all of our respective grasses are just different shades of green?

  3. doniree
    Oct 11, 2010 @ 9:45 am

    I totally get it… I read your blog and hear from you and wonder what if life would be like if I’d pursued teaching high school like I’d considered in and after college… talk about grass is always greener :) I’ve still wondered what it’d be like to work with teenagers, and hope my yoga instruction moves me in that direction at some point. I like Nico’s “what if” about… what if we just shared something from our “everyday lives” instead of our “driving a point home” public lives.

    Food for thought :)

  4. Kyla Roma
    Oct 13, 2010 @ 8:37 am

    I love this post, because it’s such a hard thing to manage! I know that even the time of day impacts what I want to write about- in the mornings I want to write about little discoveries I’ve made and make lists, and in the evenings I’m a lot more reflective.

    I think that going back through your blog entries can be a big help in trying to “see” the lens that people see you through- and I love Doni’s walk through her day as a response to this. I think I might have to do one of those myself :)

    Super interesting point, love this!

  5. Amanda
    Oct 13, 2010 @ 8:41 am

    I agree – things ALWAYS look prettier in slice form, but I think some of the things people leave out (and I KNOW the things I leave out) are sometimes more interesting…its tough to figure out what to put out there and what to keep for ourselves.

  6. Amanda
    Oct 13, 2010 @ 8:43 am

    I constantly struggle with that – the bloggers I like are the ones that tell interesting, point-driven stories, but those are definitely the blogs that stray away from the “this is what I did today” kind of posts, and that is what I like about them. I definitely think it could be a cool challenge to try to take those “what I did today” posts and make them a good read.

  7. Amanda
    Oct 13, 2010 @ 8:44 am

    I think this could be a cool challenge. I feel like I could definitely incorporate my work stories (carefully, of course) into my blogging if I put some thought into it. I want to share more of my everyday life – I just need to figure out how to do it safely and interstingly.

  8. Amanda
    Oct 13, 2010 @ 8:46 am

    I agree! I love looking back and what I’ve actually written about versus some posts I’ve started and never hit “publish” on. Its bizarre how your life looks through the lens of your blog. I hope that more people take on a post like Doni’s! Its definitely interesting to get a peek into the every day from people we usually don’t get that from.

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