Deep Thoughts on Blogging - By Jamie

In case you're wondering, this is a real life photograph. I didn't pose for it or photoshop it AT ALL. Hard to believe, huh?. On any given evening, this is where you'll find me. And Jordyn happened to catch me in action. Now you have a clear, untainted picture of me in your head.

I want to dedicate this post to my thoughts on blogging. Here goes:

• I started my blog nearly 2 1/2 years ago. I was hesitant to commit to it for months before. But once I did, I felt a strange undying dedication to it.

• My main reason(s) for starting this blog: 1. For family/friends to keep up on our lives and 2. As a family journal. Those continue to be my motivations.

• Since I've started online courses, I'm on the computer a lot more. And I feel guilty about it. I try to be on very minimally all day. I don't want my kids to think I love my laptop more than them. But once they're in bed, it's glued to my lap. Poor Tucker. He sees this picture waaaayyy too much. School takes a LOT of time, but I have this thing in me that feels like I can't start my school work until I've checked blogs and email. Weeeeelllll, we all know that its a work without end, so I've really contemplated disconnecting my internet when its time for homework!

• No one in the world can say they don't like comments. It's gratifying, satisfying and rewarding. It's insightful, reassuring and heart-warming. But it can NOT be the reason I post. EVER. Because it would dilute my purpose of blogging. I can't judge the validity of my post based on the number of comments because that would essentially be judging the validity of my life!

• ALL blogs are one-dimensional. No matter what. No one posts EVERY SINGLE detail of their life, so no MATTER what, you get a distorted view. But that's similar to many real-life friendships. We often share certain things with certain friends, but not always everything. So even in real life, many people are "one-dimensional". This isn't a bad thing at all. For me, its not because I want to portray a certain online image. I couldn't care less about that. But for privacy sake, respect for my family and personal matters, I DO write less of that "kind of stuff" than I would in say my private journal. I still try to keep it real. I'm a person who loves real. No fake, no fluff, no facades.

• If I post something I think I'm bad at, I've done wrong, or is an area of weakness for me, it is NEVER to get the "Ohhhh, no you're not Jamie, you're GREAT" comments. Those never hurt and are appreciated, but that is not my intention. It's simply because its a true feeling, event or thought.

• I love to keep up with my friends and family! I wish ALL my family had blogs! Who has time for the phone anymore? Seriously! I don't feel so out of touch when I see my loved ones. It's the greatest thing in the world!

• Sometimes I can think of 10 posts in a row and feel impatient for the next day to come so I can post again. And other times, a week will pass with NO blogging urge at all. Such is life.

• Don't you always have a nagging curiosity if a post is getting too long or may be too short? In all reality, it doesn't matter.

• I always think about my girls reading this someday in the future.....and thinking how cool it would be to read my mom's 30 year old blog [if it existed].

• I LOVE to learn about other people. Imagine how much insight we can gather from people's minds of whom we otherwise would have NO idea. I can often find all extremes of the spectrum, and then snuggle right down in the middle where I often reside happily.

• And lastly.........wanna know the question that perplexes me the most? "How do you find TIME to blog?". OMGOSH! That's like asking: How do you find TIME to eat? How do you find time to WATCH TV? How do you find time to check your email? Seriously, it's like anything else that you "make time" for. Maybe its a commitment of 15 minutes per day, average? And I guess I gain personal satisfaction from it that makes it WORTH the 15 minutes per day. I'll admit it............comments DO help ;-)

• Come to think of it, I guess I DO hold some of my *real* self back. I won't show you pictures of my makeup-less face first thing in the morning, I don't show you my saggy stomach or my stretched-out-from-pregnancies tattoo, I don't post pictures of poopy diapers or my kids on time-out......there are just SOME things better left to the imagination!

Did I forget anything?