\t\t\t\tThere are well over 100 million personal blogs. Seriously. Where have I been? While I hammered away at books, put out a magazine, and ran a farm, I kept seeing something out of the corner of my eye.<\/p>\n
Blogs.<\/p>\n
Because I already had an outlet for my photography and writing, it took me forever to turn and look. Okay, should I? Would I love it as much as I love creating books and magazines? Just to be sure, I blogged in private, unplugged. After close to four weeks, I stopped my twice-daily entries when I left town on business.<\/p>\n
That’s when I got it.<\/p>\n
It, my blog, my journal, had become my friend\u2014a discipline, a comfort, a routine. I\u2019m probably genetically predisposed to journaling anyway. My mother wrote in a journal every day of her life. Her compendiums are one of the most precious gifts she left her children.<\/p>\n
When you write about your life, you step out of your life. Looking back in from the outside gives you pitch-perfect perspective. Putting your life on canvas, on display, not only gives you undisguised vision, it gives you a second set of eyes\u2014the eyes of others.<\/em><\/p>\n Here\u2019s one of the ways that works for me. I produce a magazine. Every two months, it becomes a rather permanent part of the human record. Half way thru the two months in between issues (I do know the tru spelling of through and I also know I could have said \u201cone month later,\u201d but that isn\u2019t quite right either), I\u2019ll meet someone, let\u2019s say an executive from a chain of retail stores. I know somewhat what she does and what she\u2019s about, but when I get home, I leaf thru my magazine (the same issue I gave her) again, as if I\u2019m her. Why do I do that? I\u2019m not entirely sure (Dr. Phil?) but in doing so, I feel closer to her. We\u2019re \u201ctalking\u201d again. After our chat (really just me alone on my couch), we both know each other a little better.<\/p>\n During this second \u201cconversation,\u201d I\u2019m more aware of her. She did say she\u2019d like to retire to a farm someday. Did I respond properly to that? (Here she is with me again, giving me a second chance.) Phew, I did … right here on page 74.<\/p>\n In that ponderous recap we do after meeting someone, I did okay, but the next time I see her (in person for real), I\u2019ll make sure I respond more thoroughly to her love of heirloom quilts. But wait, I already covered that. In a past issue. I\u2019ll write her name on an envelope, put a stamp on it, mail her another issue of my magazine tomorrow, and our consanguinity deepens.<\/p>\n Consanguinity n. kinship, blood relationship, family tie or connection, common ancestry or lineage, cognation; filiation, enation, agnation, sibship; relationship, connection, association, affiliation.<\/em>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are well over 100 million personal blogs. Seriously. Where have I been? While I hammered away at books, put out a magazine, and ran a farm, I kept seeing something out of the corner of my eye. Continue reading