The Right Words Don’t Belong Here

Diary

Image by Barnaby via Flickr

I wish I could put what is in my head into words. I wish I could unburden myself, pour it all out of myself in a thick stream, and have something that makes any kind of sense come out.  This blog was started as a personal diary, but back then, there was no Twitter or Facebook. I didn’t know about Google, about each individual post being it’s own search result. I didn’t know how not private a blog is.

Unless I were to password-protect this blog, there’s no way to make what I write here private. There’s no way I can use this space as a place to write about what’s really happening in my life, because it’s not really personal anymore. Table for Five is a brand, an entity with a life of it’s own. But all I want to do right now is write, unburden, purge.

The problem with blogging as a job is that any other kind of blogging besides the kind that furthers business goals feels like cheating. I need 5 or 6 hours a day MINIMUM to make even a small dent in my email and update my three blogs.  The problem is, the place I’m in right now in my head, I’d rather spend that 5 or 6 hours a day on denial and avoidance and trying to shake it off so I can move forward.

I realize how cryptic I’m being here, which is exactly the problem.

There’s a lot going on in my life right now. I feel just a little bit like my arms and legs have each been tied to a separate horse, and someone’s about to crack a whip and yell GO.   I can’t deal with all the broken things but I can’t figure out how to fix them all, either.   I’ve completely given up on expectations of perfection, now I would settle for just okay most days.

And now comes the part where I admit just how lame I am – one of the reasons I don’t just start a private blog is because I would hope for comments on my posts. *hangs head in shame*  Yes, it’s true. Even if I were blogging about my personal problems, I would still hope for a few friendly, supportive comments once in a while. Maybe someone would read something they could relate to, something they’ve been through themselves, and would have a comment that would make me feel better.

Is that wrong?

So that’s where I am right now.  It’s so hard for me to focus on any one thing that I can’t focus on anything. My head is a swirling pool of unfocused thoughts and plans. I’ve used more similes and metaphors in this post than I can count, because I don’t know how else to explain anything.  I just wanted to write something here, so that some day maybe I can look back and say that I tried to explain it, without actually, um, explaining anything at all.

Damn it.

It’s supremely weird that I’m basically telling all of you that I have stuff to blog about that I don’t want to post here, but I don’t want it to be private, so if you wanted to, you know, read my Ode to Unburdening, you would have to ask me for the URL to the blog, which is you admitting that you would be fascinated by my internal turmoil, and me admitting that I would want to open myself up like I never have before, expose all kinds of ugliness, knowing that people who were likely to share an elevator with me at BlogHer would be reading it.

Blogging is really weird sometimes, you know?

It’s because I have this blog that I haven’t just gone and buried my head in the proverbial sand and disappeared. It’s bad enough that there are huge gaps where I wrote almost nothing personal at all, during my year of making badly-needed money but losing almost everyone who originally read this blog and who also, probably not coincidentally, moved on to bigger and better things while I stood back at the starting line yelling wait, what about me?

Issues, much?

The issues I have right now could fill a book. A THICK book. If I started from the beginning, if I broke my life down for you into manageable chunks and told you what I’ve done, where I’ve been, and how messed up things are now, you would probably give me a wide berth on that BlogHer elevator. Or maybe you wouldn’t, I don’t know. I hate being this fucking passive-aggressive.  So, I’m going to stop now and hit publish, and go take a two hour nap while Kaitlyn takes hers, and maybe when I wake up, everything will feel a little better. Sorry to go all Emo on you.

 

 

 

 

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A Blogging Declaration of Independence courtesy of IzzyMom

Declaration of Independence
Image by Cornell University Library via Flickr

In 2006, one of the most kick-ass bloggers I know wrote a post on her blog IzzyMom she called a  “declaration of independence from all ridiculous and counterproductive thoughts and behaviors related to blogging.”

I am long overdue for re-reading this. I’ve been obsessing about comments on my posts (or lack thereof) and trying to please everyone except myself.

It was relevant in 2006 and it’s still relevant today, so for anyone who has been stressing out over their blog, here you go:

A Blogging Declaration of Independence

1. I will only write when I feel like writing. I will not allow myself to feel obligated to write a blog post or do any other blog-related activity if I don’t feel like it.

2. I will no longer stop to consider if a post will be boring to other people or use that as a deciding factor in what I write.

3. I will write from my heart and remember that my blog is about me and whatever I want to write about.

4. I will not compare myself to other bloggers.

5. I will not allow myself to feel bad if I notice that someone doesn’t come to my blog anymore.

6. I will not concern myself with comments or stat counters or other numeric devices that might have the ability to affect my mood or what I write.

7. I will not feel bad if something I care about doesn’t get a lot of feedback or comments.

8. I will always try to remember that blogging is a hobby first and foremost. When it stops being fun, I will step away and re-evaluate.

9. I will no longer feel guilty about not commenting “as much as I should” because my first responsibility is to myself and my kids. Though I love reading and connecting with other bloggers, real life needs to come first.

10. I will make an effort to not get lost in blogging. Just because I can while away an entire evening in the blogsophere with relative ease doesn’t mean I should.

11. I will not worry about losing readers if I change my focus from time to time.

12. I will be true to myself and my feelings. I will be cranky if that’s how I feel. Being a diplomat 24-7 is just exhausting and unnatural.

13. I will try really hard to fight that feeling that I am missing out on something if I’m not reading and commenting on blogs.

14. In committing myself to this declaration, I am setting myself free so that I can enjoy blogging more and stress about it less.

15. I will update and add to this declaration as necessary.

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I hate when Friday feels like Monday

After sleeping for a decent seven hours, I woke up half an hour late and stumbled into the living room to make sure the boys had everything they needed to leave for school. Ryan needed his violin, music folder, gym shoes, and his snack contribution for a school party today, Nathan needed a hat, gloves and snow boots because we had a quarter inch of snow last night and his teacher said they couldn’t go out for recess if they weren’t dressed properly.

Because I overslept and hadn’t made coffee, Nathan tried to make himself a cup of Taster’s Choice instant (the hazelnut flavor is so good) by microwaving a cup of water. But the cup was too hot and he set it down too fast and sloshed scalding hot water on his hand. He was okay after running his hand under cold water for a minute. By then it was too late to start over so he went without coffee this morning.

After getting Kaitlyn up, we went into the kitchen to get her breakfast and me some coffee, where I discovered there was no milk for her cereal and no more liquid OR powdered coffee creamer for my coffee. I made the Taster’s Choice instant for myself anyway, made a big cup of hot chocolate, then poured some of that into my coffee and gave the rest to Kaitlyn, who was eating DRY Cocoa Krispies with a spoon.

Then Chris told me, as he was leaving for work, that we have no baby wipes (Kaitlyn is mostly using the potty but still has the occasional accident). Of course we don’t.  Why does everything have to run out all at once?

And for some reason, although I’m trying to go to bed earlier and catch a catnap during the day if I can, I feel really tired. I was doing so well on the Effexor for the last two weeks, so I don’t know if maybe I caught a little bug or something, but I feel like I could get back in bed and sleep another four or five hours, easy.

I still have probably 20 reviews to write, giveaways to start, Christmas cards to order, decorations to haul up from the basement, plus regular day to day housework and stuff. Ugh.  What I’d really like is for a maid service to come and clean the house while a professional nanny plays educational and entertaining games with Kaitlyn and a chef prepares a week of meals. While I sleep.  That’s not too much to ask, right?

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