Back in the 70's (wow! am I dating myself or what?) there was a commercial in which Ella Fitzgerald held a high note for a long period of time until her voice broke a wine glass. While she was doing this "live" a recording was being made on a Memorex tape, then the tape was played back and the "recording" was so "live" sounding that it too broke a wine glass. The Memorex recording was so good, that you could not tell the real thing from the recording.
The other day I was thinking about my "real life" and my "blog/internet life." Recently, I have added real world folks (people I see in my "real" life) to my Facebook page and some have visited my blog. I started to wonder about my two lives and if my "real life" mimics my "Memorex" life? It was a "reality" check, if you will.
My whole quest in life is to lead an authentic life. I want the life I lead here and the life I "really" live to be the same. I would cringe if someone thought that they were not one in the same.
It would be really easy to write my life better or worse than what it really is. The thing that I find hard about writing is making it plain and simple. I don't want my children or readers to read between the lines, unless I intend it. I don't want a lot of double talk. If I write that I had a bad day...then I really did have a bad day, I really did yell at the boys, I really did feel sick over it, I really did ignore my hubs on purpose, because I was mad, I really did cry over the fact, that sometimes things don't turn out the way I want, and there are times, when we really are cashed strapped. If I write that things are going well, then they really are going well. I believe in the power of words, so most of the time I try to write about the good stuff rather than the bad. There is enough bad news in the world and not enough good news. Sometimes, I would rather write something positive and believe in it...to make it so...does that make sense?
All this "thinking" led me to this post. I truly hope that my online life is exactly what someone would find if they ran into me at the beach, the mall, the grocery store or here at home.
What are your thoughts about your online life and your real life? Is it live or is it Memorex?
xoc
2 comments:
Good thoughts. So relevant to the ability nowadays to create an "online personality". I think we're all finding now- with our munchkins watching us and good friendships forged through real life challenges and joys - its so much easier to live a transparent and authentic life. I don't know how many times I've felt relieved and glad to know of other's bad days, only for the reason that its just not me. (i know that sound rather shadenfreude, but you get what I mean). And yet, I find I always do tend to "gloss it over" and try to find the best in everything, because just how I feel better when I eat right, I feel better when I think "those Happy thoughts". Just another way of coping with crappy situations. :-)
Always thought provoking posts Christy - thanks for my only moment of thinking today!
There are very few things that happen that I don't blog about- I think we all have certain things that we keep special, and just for ourselves only. Sometimes I don't write about things because they aren't yet ready to be put into words, or I don't know how to say them.
I work to do the same though- living openly, honestly, and authentically. People that have met me after knowing me online first have said that I'm much more opinionated online than I am IRL, but I suppose that's just because my blog is my place to put my opinions.
I blog the realities of my life because I want other people to know that my life isn't picture perfect- there are struggles and triumphs, and sharing those hopefully helps people feel less alone. It might even help them appreciate just how awesome their lives really are, because we do really have it pretty good here, even on a bad day.
xoxo
-M
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