Sunday, August 29, 2010

a comment about comments...


About a month ago I changed my blogger settings to allow comments and nothing happened so I'm going to try again. At the time I was getting ready to go out of town so I couldn't trouble shoot the whole thing. I know it kind of bugged Anet when I turned comments off and it was her I was thinking of when I tried to reinstate them. Today Elizabeth sent me a note asking about them as well so I thought I'd try again. I don't know if this will work, but if it doesn't I'll keep fiddling and hopefully fix whatever the glitch is.

Anyways, while I'm at it I figured I should probably address why I took comments off in the first place. Let me preface this with the old Seinfeld line "it's not you, it's me." which is really true here. When I first started blogging I never thought about it as a social medium. It was more of an experiment and a format for personal journaling. After a while people commented and I responded and pretty soon I found myself with all of these great friends who I regard dearly. I never anticipated that. Later I started to question the authenticity of the whole thing. I know it's impossible to see ourselves clearly but somehow I felt like my online persona seemed disingenuous ( attention seeking?) which made me uncomfortable. More specifically: perkier, chattier, and and more cheerful than I really am. As if the content of what I wrote was being affected by how I wanted you to see me. And that's why I turned comments off. The real me is quiet and introverted, and it's super important for me to own that and not try to be something or someone I'm not. In the comment-less interim I feel like I have found my "blogging comfort zone" and am less vulnerable to the idea of being engaging. I know I've lost a lot of followers because of it but I guess I needed that time to find my footing.

So here's the caveat; I'm just me and I'm blogging because I love how visually tangible it is. Plus, it's the only type of journal that I can commit to without slacking off and I can actually read what I've written (my handwriting really sucks). If I get comments to work and you want to say hi, thank you in advance. I'll be interested to read your thoughts, and if I can think of anything interesting to respond with I will. Thanks to all of you who have kept stopping by to see me all of this time. I do read all of your posts with great interest even when I don't comment. I guess I'm really just a lurker at heart. :)

9 comments:

Anet said...

Hey it's working!

I'm very glad to be able to comment on your post now! So many times I've just cracked up at some of your post!
I really enjoy and appreciate being allowed to share in your small square:) Thank you!

Tara said...

How nice to have the option to comment again... thank you! (although I totally understand and respect your decision to have comments off)
For now, it's nice to be able to say hello again.

Hello. :-)

Amy Maureen Murphy said...

Cool!! I was wondering. Many times I wanted to leave a little comment. Glad that you are doing what works for YOU!!! That is authehtic blogging. :)

rauf said...

Your penmanship sucks ?
oh deeah !
First, i don't like this word Sharon, or the word craftmanship.
i don't know how many other 'manships' are there in use. Does that mean only men can write and only men are good in crafts ?
This is an environment issue that i have been fighting over the years. No wonder we are going in the wrong direction.

second, i don't know what i should call my 'penmanship'. if yours sucks, mine should be pure mud. i murder the language Sharon.

Exactly opposite here, my online image, if i have one, is that of a gruffy, cynical, irritating old man. Where as i am not serious even for a minute in my real life.
Everything is a joke to me, like i consider male domination biggest joke in human history.

Your link on my page takes me to your web page. i thought you stopped writing like me. Here you are ! quite active and all. i think i should change the link to your blog directly.

This comment page works fine Sharon, no problems here.

Sharon said...

Hey Anet, It feels like the equilibrium here has been restored now. Thanks for your encouragement. :)

Tara! Gosh I had no idea you still dropped by. I'm so glad you do.

Amy, I imagine in my head that you would get my whole comment-less period more than anyone else... but maybe I'm projecting. It just seems a little aperger-ish of me that I get squirrely (no pun intended Anet) about stuff like that.

rauf, you are right about penmanship and male domination!
I'm not sure I can do much about the world's testosterone problem but I will change the word penmanship to handwriting as soon as I get done here.

Anet said...

Squirrely???
Becareful squirrels have feelings too:)

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hi Sharon, thinking of you...take care.

Sharon said...

Thanks Gwen, Thinking of you too. Don't work too hard!!!

rauf said...

you have me in fits Sharon, world testosterone problem is highly original, i was laughing like mad. Please don't copyright your words Sharon, i may steal your words in some future post. This is good and original PENMANSHIP