Breathing The Blogoshpere

Why do we write these blogs? What motivates a person to put their most intimate thoughts, feelings, and rants out where the whole world can see them? My personal hope is that I will fling questions into the vast blogosphere and they will return to me in the form of clear-cut answers. Hey…a girl can dream.

I know a couple of people who are using their online diaries to keep friends and family abreast of the latest happenings in their on-going battles with cancer. When their bodies are begging for rest, but their hearts are yearning for contact, they can share the good and the bad with many at once. They then can – at their own pace and in their own time – read the myriad of good wishes that have been sent out to them via the web. What a great way for the disconnected to stay connected.

I am very aware of the fact that words can absolutely bring joy and healing, but I know too that words can slice through the thickest skin and bring pain. Once that magical “send” button on the laptop has been tapped, there is no taking back the words – good or bad. In the past few months I have stumbled across a couple of blogs that have stirred unwanted passion in me. A pastor who was once my mentor, leader, and dear friend posted one of the blogs and his words saddened me. You see, he writes beautifully and his thoughts, words of encouragement, and advice are solid. So why does his blog make me sad? Because if his blog is a reflection of what’s in his heart, then how could he treat someone the way he treated me? I’m not sure I’ll return to his on-line journal.

One Myspace I probably will go back to belongs to another person who also was once a very, very important part of my life. You see, each time I visit his personal My-space I’m reminded of all the reasons that I really, really don’t want that guy in my life! We all tend to romanticize people and times from our past and sometimes missing them can make us down right sick. However, it can be a good thing to visit a memory every now and again via the web and be able to say, “Wow, what was I thinking?”