...aka Janice's sudden need to be philosophical. (Please note that these are my
ramblings only and don't necessarily reflect the thoughts of any of my
co-bloggers here.)
One of the
blogs I subscribe to has recently featured a post entitled 'Things I'm Afraid
to Tell You.' This is part of a
ripple going across the ocean of blogs out there. It is essentially a reaction from bloggers who feel
pressured and lose confidence or get discouraged or a tidge jealous by seeing
too much prettiness and perfection on others' blogs. On reflecting on their own blogs, they feel they've been
hiding their real selves from their readers, showing instead some perfect
post/craft/home/style self. A lot
of revelations have been posted.
I am not
here to post any revelations about myself, although I suppose some things will
show just from what I type here.
No, I just want to say that I posted a reaction to the one blogger and
I'd like to pass on some of that here.
In my
opinion, so many bloggers, especially the dedicated, long-run ones, have been
showing their real selves all along and my summary is this:
- they are amazingly generous with
their time and the skills that they share,
- they
work some crazy hours,
- many are
frugal,
- they
have a good eye,
- and, if
they want to make some money on all of this generosity, then they put in even
more work to have some sponsors and sell a portion of their work online.
All of
those things say a lot to me about the person and that's enough for me to
know. Really, it's no different
than going into a store, a museum or even just walking down the street and
seeing something you really love - you don't know who made it, but you really
appreciate it and the fact that someone was cool enough to have that flash of brilliance
to conceive and the skills, materials and patience to make it. And that's how I feel about many
bloggers, that "WOW, he/she is so amazing!"
BUT, in addition to
that, I always think "I am SO lucky to have seen this!" And that seems to be where I differ
from the bloggers mentioned above.
I am just grateful. Perhaps
I am unusual, but I have no compulsion to emulate or be jealous or strive or
feel depressed. Similarly, these
blogger folk just make me happy and I am constantly appreciative of all that
they selflessly give away. And if
they can make some money on the side, all I can say is "Go for it - you've
earned it!" and often, "Yes, I will pay you for your talents and I think it quite proper!"
I think
everyone appreciates a job well done, whether it is a beautiful work of art, an
exciting book, a nifty craft technique, a catchy song, a delicious meal or a
freshly-mowed lawn. If you can
appreciate it, then it should make you happy and nothing else.
Here's my
little revealing part: I am really
an average person, jack of all trades is saying way too much and I'm certainly
a master of none, with the possible exception of motherhood, but to that I
credit my kids more than myself (more on that later possibly). As a not-so-creative person, there's LOTS for me to appreciate, so
it doesn't take much to make me happy. Okay, maybe I'm a master at happiness.
That makes me a very blessed person.
Thanks for
reading.
Go look
for the little things to be happy about!
And have a
lovely day.
Janice