“Oh, your internet friends?”
“Hey, ‘Facebook!’ How’s it hangin’?”
“Oh, you BLOGGERS!”
These are all phrases that have jokingly been shot in my direction since I’ve become a writer/blogger/teller-of-all-too-much.
“I see your green light on! I know you’re on Facebook all the time!”
10-4, Stalker McStalkerson.
Allow me to let you in on a little something. Us “bloggers,” or as many like to call us “24/7 Facebookers,” do this for many reasons. I shouldn’t have to justify the reasons that I, or any of my friends do what we do, but out of my own annoyance, I’ve decided to enlighten some of you.
Have you ever seen an article on your Facebook timeline with a heart tugging title, clicked over, and shed three hundred tears while you clung on to every word? Or just about wet yourself over some laugh-out-loud piece about a woman’s detailed account of a Brazilian wax gone wrong? If so, let me guess! Sometimes you even share those posts on your own personal Facebook wall with an added sentiment, such as: “OMG, you MUST read this. SO GOOD!”
Guess what? That’s us.
Those stories you read, the articles you share, the beautifully and hilariously written words that pull on your heart’s strings or give you your daily dose of laughter, that’s us. We write those articles.
BLUNTmoms, Scary Mommy, Huffington Post, xoJane, Washington Post, Motherlode; the author’s names delicately tucked under the title of those posts you read, that’s us.
Those “bloggers,” those “Facebookers,” those are my friends and me.
Some may label our blogging as a silly hobby or some lame attention-seeking attempt as many super kind commentators leave in our hard work’s wake. However, I’d imagine that if I posted to my personal Facebook page that I started writing for the Sunday paper in the obituary section, I’d hear deafening internet applause.
I’ve become fairly accustomed to random jabs here and there and silly remarks that I know are harmless in essence, but after a while, they do get to you. They shouldn’t, but they do.
I don’t mock your Etsy shop creations or your endlessly shared gourmet food photos, because that is what you enjoy.
At least, I’m assuming so.
A while back a blogger girlfriend invited me out for a girls night with a bunch of her friends. Over drinks, the two of us were shooting the shit and talking about a few submissions we had sent out. We talked about how we were eagerly anticipating the editorial responses.
One of the girls from the group overheard our conversation, turned to us, and said: “Oh, YOU BLOGGERS!!” in a silly, sarcastic, and non-assuming malevolent tone. I know she meant no malice; it was clear she didn’t. However, to be honest, it bugged me. It hurt my feelings, as silly as that may sound.
I didn’t know a whole lot about blogging just over a year ago. I would post my goofy rants and stories to my personal Facebook wall and after being told multiple times to start a blog, I decided to follow through.
Over the course of this past year, I’ve come to learn that my writing, my craft, if you will, is a gift. It’s something to be proud of, something I am proud of. However, most of all, I’ve realized it is something that makes me happy.
My Facebook ‘green light’ is on because I am in Facebook groups learning; I am exploring new opportunities and ways to further my craft. I am being schooled in Facebook messages by my editors on how to hone my grammar. I am reading; I am reading A LOT. I am learning, but most of all, I am having the time of my life.
Writing my stories–silly, funny, serious–it is my personal slice of joy in a chaotic life that we all lead.
There are more supportive people out there than non-supportive ones, and for that, I am grateful. However, to the ones who like to rain on our parade with your seemingly harmless comments? I ask you to think about your passions.
What drives you? What makes you happy?
If your happiness comes in the form of selling nail wraps, making candles, creating culinary masterpieces, writing poetry, hand knitting baby items or re-creating the Mona Lisa in Lego form in your spare time, I respect you. I respect your craft, and most of all, your passion.
We, us “bloggers,” do this because we enjoy it, we find happiness in putting our “funny,” our “sad,” our “mad,” our stories into words and putting it out there. It may not be a craft that has a tangible outcome like a pair of knitted baby booties, but to us, it is equally as gratifying.