Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Reality Check!

I was really caught by this line in the Blood reading for the week: "Approaching your weblog seriously can make it better; taking yourself seriously never will."

Ms. Blood was discussing the petty online squabbling that sometimes arises between bloggers, pointing to a loss of perspective as the ultimate cause.

In other words, just because you have a blog doesn’t make you god. You are not the ultimate authority on the rest of the universe, and your opinions aren’t the end-all and say-all of every argument.

Blood is saying hey, we’re all error prone humans here. Just do your best in writing your blog: provide insights, be creative and novel, make sure your grammar is impeccable, but realize that you are going to make mistakes, because, without a doubt, it will happen. One has to have the humor and grace to realize a misstep and take responsibility for it, even if your embarrassing stumble is seen by everyone in the room.The real problems start when people think that they are incapable of error, and start stepping on toes in their attempt to justify themselves.

So don’t try and hide your falls and faults, fess up and then get up. Everyone will think better of you for your candor and resilience.
It’s reassuring that I don’t have to be perfect all the time, even if Katie Almighty does have a nice ring to it.

1 comment:

Michelle F said...

That is very true. We also just went over a similar topic in my Advanced Fiction Writing class. Don't fall in love with what you write. Of course you should be passionate but if someone gives you feedback that you don't like it isn't the end of the world. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion abut everything. This is basically why blogs were created, to speak an opinion.