Comments on: Something is Shifting

By: Stephanie T.

Stephanie T. — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 10:19:22 +0000

thank you…for your words and honesty. my goodness you are brave!
your post could not have come at a more opportune time.

By: jenica

jenica — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:50:18 +0000

i make friends easily. i reach out and meet someone knew on a regular basis. with that said, i don’t have great friends. i find that i have a very difficult time finding people that i truly connect with.
blogging has allowed me to find like-minded individuals who are encouraging and loving. but i have at times questioned whether or not it was real. thus squam was truly life changing for me. i found that the relationships i had carved out were true and real and sweet. i think it takes integrity to yourself to find it though.
(((hugs)))

By: Marisa and Creative Thursday

Marisa and Creative Thursday — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:38:46 +0000

I already told you by phone but it needs repeating ~ such a beautiful, eloquent post. Thank you for sharing.

By: pixie

pixie — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:45:56 +0000

here, here, swirly. recreating the painful cliques of high school is what blogging sometimes feels like. i’ve heard it from so many women. isn’t that what made most of us outcasts driven to be artists in the first place?! love to you, my dear-this was brave and honest & i always appreciate these qualities in you.

By: a Cagey Bee

a Cagey Bee — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:06:15 +0000

Thank you! This post couldn’t have come at a better time for me.
I’ve blogged in one form or another since I first started using the internet, but only recently started blogging about my art work. I’ve been so inspired by the wonderful community of artists. I was (& still am) thrilled to throw my hat into the ring.
The more I write and the more I think about wanting to present my authentic self, the more I’ve been thinking I need to put up photos of myself, of my studio, of my life. I haven’t been doing this much because honestly? My life looks nothing like the lives & people I see on other blogs.
Day to day my studio/bedroom is a disaster. There are boxes everywhere, papers, art supplies, STUFF. I have no storage space & it shows.
Day to day I also *look* like a disaster. I don’t wear make-up unless I’m going out. I don’t put on cute outfits to stay home & paint. A splash of water on my face & a ponytail is the sum of my daily beauty routine.
If I put up pics of my authentic self, I could single-handedly launch blogland’s Worst Dressed List!
While I don’t want my blog to become my dumping ground for dirty laundry, I do want to be honest about the struggles in my life, the obstacles we all face while trying to find a joyful path.
I hope I can find that balance.
And I hope people like you keep making posts like this to nudge me in the right direction.

By: lu

lu — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:40:35 +0000

i enjoyed reading your post and I have been enjoying your book. Authenticity shines through no matter what. It is what I do with my blog and like you, I don’t know that my stats are huge or not. I blog for me…no one else. Hoping to put something good into the world when there is plenty of negative. Glad I found your blog. I will return.

By: creativevoyage

creativevoyage — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 03:55:21 +0000

Havi at http://www.fluentself.com/blog/biggification/why-even-bother-blogging/#comments has a great article on blogging – the trick is never to let it be a measure of your self worth.

By: Cre8tiva

Cre8tiva — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:56:05 +0000

brava…much of what you write needed to be voiced…i once was a tracking fool…and life intervened and brought me nack to earth with a thud earlied this year…what was so important became less so or not so…i look forward to reading your thoughts and, when i am moved, to comment…your truth often aligns with mine…keep your truth alive and always believe in your gut…hugs, rebecca

By: jennlui

jennlui — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:05:39 +0000

thank you christine for sharing this, for speaking your truth. also thank you for sharing the two links, indeed there are very interesting discussions going around! it’s so wonderful to be able to share like this and feel like we are not alone.
i started blogging only a couple months ago, being hesitant for a couple years. in the end i decided to take the plunge, realizing that i really have nothing to lose and so much to potentially gain. i initially started my blog to be able to join all the great creative women out there, seeing so many friendships being created… of course i’ve learnt that just by having a blog doesn’t mean that i’ll have instant blog friends… at first it actually made me feel more alone, but i have since re-evaluated the reasons i blog and readjusted my expectations… i want to share my world and hopefully inspire others as others have inspired me. i am still so new to this whole blogland, so have limited experience… but i am so happy that you shared this…

By: Debbie W

Debbie W — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:57:36 +0000

So much to ponder as we allow small snippets from our lives to become somewhat public.
I am new here, as I only just discovered your blog after purchasing one of your pieces through Etsy. But I love your honesty and your ability to convey your thoughts through your art and your writing. That much I can tell is very real and very authentic. I began blogging as a way to practice my writing, as well as a way to document some of the journey that I am traveling on. My experiences with other bloggers have been very good so far, but I do understand that just as in “real life”, it pays to be safe. I try not to invest too much emotion into the things that I read in bloggy-land, but that isn’t always easy to do.
I’m not sure how old you are, but I am 46, and I think that sometimes age teaches us to live with a healthy sense of trust/distrust. I know that there are many things that happen today which I allow to just roll off that would have affected me differently when I was 36 or even 26. I am also sure that being in the midst of raising three teenage daughters and a twenty-something has taught me to focus on the more important stuff. But I understand your search for answers and your need to question the relationships that are forged through blogs. And I can definitely relate to your feelings.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts in this post. There is a lot to consider and I hope that you find peace in the answers that you find. After reading some of the well-written comments here, I can see that you have made some wonderful relationships through blogging. Focus on those and not the ones that have caused you harm. They are the ones that are truly important, anyway.
With healing hugs,
Debbie