Show and Tell, and Blogging

When I was in the first grade, our class (like so many others) had a time called “Show and Tell” when individual students could voluntarily choose to go to the front of the class and talk about whatever they felt like talking about. Most of the class, to varying degrees, availed themselves of this golden opportunity for hamming it up (like Gary, who spent most of his time up there just grinning, giggling, and telling jokes). I was on the “rare appearances only” end of the spectrum, only going up when something really extraordinary happened (like the time that my family and I visited the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach). On the opposite end was Carrie, a precocious, bubbly little girl who used Show and Tell to relate everything that went on in her life the previous day, from the moment she woke up all the way through to the time her head hit the pillow at night!

And it’s Carrie’s use of this childhood forum that reminds me of some of the personally-themed blogs that I sometimes run across. I like to read this type of blog because I am naturally working at getting through my day and can relate to how others are working at getting through their’s. And it gives me a better perspective of what people in general think and how they act. I’m not interested in the identity of those writing this type of blog; I would also feel very awkward submitting a comment to someone about something personal that is going on in their life. But if the blog was deliberately made public, I think that it is totally appropriate to read it regularly.

One theme that pervades some personal blogs is an issue that the writer is using the blog to work out in his/her mind. It could be about health, work, relationships, money, or just about anything of a personal nature. Such a blog often gives the impression that the writer is obsessed with the issue being written about. But I don’t think that this is usually the case. Sometimes it helps to put feelings and facts down on paper (or type out on a blog) in order to sort them out better. As a matter of fact, people who are around those who dwell on certain problems in their blogs may not even be aware that any problem exists; it can only be expressed clearly by working it out on “paper”.

My blog is a messy mix of the personal and various topics of interest. There are a number of personal self-improvement projects I am working on, and I write about my progress (or lack thereof) on this blog to give me a sense of public accountability. I am not the “Carrie” type of person who thinks that everyone is waiting with baited breath to know all the goings-on in my life, no matter how trivial. But it’s still fun (and illuminating) when I run across a blog written this way! And sometimes I'll write one of these types of articles (see the one for this past Wednesday). I also have a hunch that, in the far distant future, those “excavating” ancient blogs (if possible) to find out what it was like in the 21st century will likely find this type to be of the greatest value. See, I’m thousands of years ahead of my time!