Comments on: Continuation

By: rosa murillo

rosa murillo — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 12:18:26 +0000

I am a baby in the blogging world. I just started a few months ago, and what I post on it is just silly, I think. I started a weekly project and made the commitment there on the blog to keep with it, I must say it’s been this commitment that has kept me going, even though I know there’s not so many people looking at it, I know that it’s important to keep with it. I don’t stick with new projects very long, my mind likes to wander a lot, so knowing I have to post every week has helped me get past the beginning stage and really explore where it wants to go. I’m having a lot of fun and I love reading other blogs too, mainly for inspiration because we are like eggs with a hard but thin shell and if you’re like me, you will feel more comfortable writing it down, It’s a deeper connection that just talking to someone, for example if I met you at your store you probably wouldn’t start telling me about your trip to Argentina and what’s on your mind, and I probably wouldn’t open up just instantly. so this is a really useful tool to see past the thin hard shell of other like-minded people, I just love this kind of forum. your posts are insightful and I love them!
good luck with all your projects too.
r
ps, this post has been my official farewell to lurking!

By: Melba

Melba — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 08:25:36 +0000

I worked for The Gap for 15 years. It was driven into me that “BIGGER IS BETTER”. In most corporate retail if a store makes the same amount of money as last year you are considered a failure regardless of other factors (stores opening/closing in your area and the world economy)
My views have shifted since being home with my children for the last 3 years. I now value connection and community and purchasing with integrity.
I think that many more people feel like I do now, but we don’t know it because mass media portrays the majority of the population as believeing “bigger is better”
Here is the dilema for me…
We all have to buy milk and medicine. To do this we need money. As a small business owners we need people to know about our businesses otherwise we won’t have money for the milk and medicine.
A line exists for each of us…
What we will do to have that milk and medicine and what it means to live an authentic life with integrity. I struggle with this balance dialy…
with where my line is…

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 19:47:24 +0000

A Vera Wang MATTRESS? I will join you in shaking my head.
A few weeks ago there was a SF Bay Area event called “LitQuake.” I went to one of the shows and what amazed me from the readings was how pure the performances were. It wasn’t about light shows or fancy costumes. The musicians and writers who performed were just in this state of BEING an artist. They embodied it completely. It was not a cloak they wore. It really inspired me to think more in terms of BEING what I want, not trying to “have” what I want.
Of course, those are the principles of manifestation, right? Be it, then do it, then you have it rather than trying to have something in order to do something in order to be something.
xo,
K

By: melissa

melissa — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 16:17:24 +0000

I read your blog daily to keep a connection with you. It feels like I am much closer than the 3,000 miles that separate us. And oh there are so many days that I wish I could meet you for a cup of tea my dear. For me, I think blogging is a way of connecting with dear friends who are way to far away!

By: Shelley Klammer

Shelley Klammer — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 15:37:55 +0000

Mmm… the dark side of blogging. I started mine a year ago as means to explore my feelings through art and to talk about my teaching practice. I loved the regular practice of being accountable to my dreams and purposes. For me my blog has been an invocation. For the first half of the year I did not even look at another blog, I wanted to develop an authentic voice and did not want to be influenced by what others were doing.
Now in the past months I see that there is an enormous universe out there and it can be quite addictive. I question it. I use my blog to wrestle with issues and solidy new directions yet I can see that now with more readers checking in, sudddenly I feel more compelled to report. I have to resist the urge to offer glossed over posts and be very authentic and human in my writing even when I am not doing very well.
I think that blogging that is a sharing of our human dilemmas and struggles is form of honesty and connection but even that can be too much of a good thing. I love the comment above. There is a big deep life out there to be lived and too much time in front of the computer can be a huge distraction from finding our place in it.

By: Katrina

Katrina — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 10:28:12 +0000

I wanted to get in on this conversation before, but since I’m not blogging anymore, I felt weird about it. I think that your last group of questions give me an in, though.
Ever since I left the blogging community I’ve felt more at peace. I still read several blogs every day, but I rarely comment or participate. I’m back to being a lurker.
I orginally started blogging because I like to write and I thought it would be fun…when people actually started reading it I was surprised. When I gained a following, I was even more taken aback. When my blog started to help me with my career, I began to believe I couldn’t live without it. How would I get myself out there? How would I reach people with my message?
But then the pressures became too great. Just as you’ve said, there’s a fine line between wanting to get yourself out there and becoming too caught up in the fame game. My life has improved 100-fold since I took down my site. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate all of the wonderful people who read my blog…but I do feel that interacting with people in real-life has been a more rewarding experience for me and it has also been healing.
I don’t wish to discount my virtual friends, who, like you, have become real-life friends. You and the others are an integral part of my life. If I hadn’t gone to the retreat, I don’t think I’d be on the journey I am now.
But going offline and discovering myself again was amazing and it led me back to my true passion: teaching. I’ve never been happier than I am right now working with children every evening. I did not get the same satisfaction from writing or photography. I see that now.
However, I never would have arrived at this place without the years of soul-searching I did on my blog. So it absolutely did it’s job, and I think it can be a positive influence for people. As long as you can navigate the tight-wire properly.

By: Bloggermouth

Bloggermouth — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 10:19:53 +0000

That’s cool! Sometimes there is a fine line between tagging and art.