Thursday, May 10, 2012

on how pinterest is the new blogging and where i channel kirsten dunst channeling marie antoinette.



so it's not a secret that bloggers are a dying breed.  well, some of them aren't.  the famous ones with a bajillion followers that might be making a small income and are writing books and such, i'm sure they're around to stay.  


but little by little, i've seen a lot of my personal friends dwindle off their blogs. and i admit that even i have done this.  not because i've wanted to, i am still living life as a continual blog post, thinking through scenarios and creating words to write to make them come alive.  but what i am lacking is time, in a serious way.  ben is gone almost every night, and i've worked out a system so that every night, each kid gets about 30 minutes of one-on-one time with me during our bedtime routine.  once they're in bed, i clean up the house and then i start in on writing articles and doing video blogs for my work, usually around 10 pm.  at some point ben comes home, we fill each other in on the details of our day, and i go to bed around midnight or 1 a.m.  and by that point, my brain is fuzzy and fried and the words have mushed together and are no longer creative, or funny, they are just words that no longer form into coherent thoughts. 


i miss blogging, i miss writing in a way i can't describe.  


blogging has been my space to record some of my most insightful thoughts, some of my most painful memories, some of my most fearful moments as a young mother, and some of the most blessed and rewarding minutes of my life.  it has helped me to remember, to be both introspective and keep my perspective.  to look at this past journey of 5 years and see my own spiritual, mental and physical evolution.  recorded moments of my children that i would have never really focused in on otherwise.  


i have heard the phrase "live in the moment" so many times, and how some mothers have expressed that blogging has taken away from their ability to do this...because it is time-consuming.  or time wasting.  but i completely disagree.  everyone chooses to "waste time" somewhere....television, music, reading, exercise, sewing, shopping, eating, traveling.  any of these things can be a waste of time if they are not enriching our lives somehow.




so blogging taking away from my ability to live in the moment?  it has done the opposite for me.   it has heightened the good and the bad, the beautiful and the heart-wrenching.  as crazy as it sounds, colors are richer, and emotions are deeper because of it.  because i am constantly aware of what is going on in my little life, constantly snapping pictures, remembering phrases and looks and tiny details, down to the very eyelashes of my children.  like when i'm walking into a room to find leah randomly sitting with a piece of cheese on her face, a moment i would have laughed at but most likely not have reached for the camera.  










or hilarious exchanges with ben that otherwise would have been forgotten.  or moments where i feel love so deeply for these 4 people in my inner circle and i can express it without just feeling it and having the moment gone the next minute.  and i am so glad that we get to have these recorded moments of our lives that are passing by too quickly. 


last night i went through our private blog, the one i started in 2007 while we were living in north carolina, working living and working at a group home with a load of crazy teenagers and an even bigger load of adventures that nobody in their right mind wanted to have.  not only did i read about our surreal experiences there, but i also read all of the hilarious and supportive comments of my blogging friends around the world.  and yes, i can say world, because one of them lived in korea, and one in china.  :)  


and you know what?  i missed it.  nope, not the group home, not for a second.  what do you think i am, insane?  what i missed was that connection with my friends and family through writing down experiences. 


i also miss my friends.  yes we have facebook and can follow each other on pinterest, but for me it's not the same.  and it's not just because i love to write, though i do.  it's why i was an english major in college for a year.  but i also miss it because i love to read about my friends.  isn't there something odd about how now most blogs that i read are complete strangers?  there's something amazing about that too, don't get me wrong.  reading the words of someone who i have never met and they just get me in a way that even i can't describe myself?  it's so fulfilling. and there are some blogging friends who i've never met but actually consider and call my "friends" because of the back-and-forth exchanges we've found through blogging.  


but with my friends, who now live spread across the country... i guess when this all started, this blog rage, i had romantic visions of all of us growing old together, blogging about our children's high school graduations, and weddings, and grandchildren, and retirement, and adult diapers.  i may or may not have envisioned myself laying in my bed at the old folk's home, with my dentures next to my computer, my arthritic fingers slowly typing about the featured split pea soup for lunch, and how my body is falling apart but my brain and spirit are still alive, wondering what heaven will be like and being able to still reach across the virtual world to find a connection with a loved one who is not sitting in that lonely, sterile room with me, making me feel so much less alone.  


a couple of weeks ago while i was at work, we were talking about how blogging seems like it's going out of style.  like it's sooooo 2007-2011. suddenly pinterest emerged, and blogging became the red-headed stepchild, the neglected one, the less exciting, less thrilling, less crafty one.  


not a good move for me, career-wise, seeing that i was hired as their company blogger.  hmm. 


but where did we go, friends?  is it because i've been seriously lazy about commenting lately?  if you think no one is listening, are you quitting?  are you too busy?  or is blogging really dead?  or just for those few left who have become/are trying to become successful through theirs?  


well, to that i say NAY.  


in my best kirsten-dunst-acting-like-marie-antoinette voice, 






to that i say

"LET THEM STILL BLOG!"  




so how about this.  


i'll blog if you will.  


deal?  
   



13 comments:

Charlotte said...

Amen a thousand times over.

As long as blogger will let me blog for free, I will keep posting. Any time I lose heart or gusto for blogging all I have to do is look at my blog book that I printed last year. 5 years of me- the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I know in my heart that I will blog forever because my dream is to sit around at the nursing home laughing and crying over those tiny captured moments. Blogging has absolutely focused me in on what matters most.

And I never did mind being out of style anyway.

Meggan Hayes said...

Deal (x10)!

Rachel Chick said...

Deal!!! No matter how crazy life gets, I will still blog. I need it. I've seen that over the past nearly five years. I need blogging. There will be times, like the past year, where I'm not as consistent as I'd like to be, because like is crazy -- but I'll always come back to it. There is a big part of it that I love because I get to re-live moments with my little, but there is another part that needs it because it's my journey. It helps me to step outside of the moment. It helps me to evaluate life better.

But let's make a deal where, instead of being across the country or world from each other when we're in that nursing home, let's be roommates. :)

Rachel Chick said...

Also, sometimes typing on laptops gets nutsy. Don't ask me why. So in my previous comment, when things stop making sense, just fill in what you think fits. ;)

Me said...

You know, it is totally true! Back in 2007-2008 oh yeah, the blogging golden years, where every week I found out someone new had a blog and was adding to my blog list and commenting was like the thing to do, awww it was such the fad, wasn't it? ha ha. It's very interesting, cause like you said it really is dying off... come on, people post! I'm so glad to hear you will keep blogging because I have always LOVED your blog and get excited when you post and you inspire me in many ways. I will definitely keep blogging cause I need that outlet and you said it perfectly, it does NOT take away, it definitely adds to my life, to record those moments that otherwise would be forgotten. Looking back on what I have posted makes me happy because it is priceless. I love to track my kids growing up. I also love to vent and when I write it helps put things into perspective, you know? ANYWHO I agree with you completely, let blogging live on!

Bec said...

I am so glad I know you, lynsey. I will blog soon. My life is a mess but I'm sure I can find a computer somewhere under the mess and boxes. If you can make time to blog with all you have going on, I can, too.

And yes, it is nice to know someone out there is reading, listening

Rachel Holloway said...

yes, yes, and yes. I WISH life weren't spinning in circles. It's so busy--and yet, I regrey not taking the time to record things like I used to. I COMPLETELY miss it. I do.

And the way you said you feel about it, is how my on heart feels.

Pinterest, Shminterest.
Let us all blog!

Nana said...

Keep blogging Lynsey! I love reading your blog. I think blogging is one of the most positive trends ever. I really wished it would have been around when I had children and when they were growing up. You really do look at things differently when you blog. What normally is a mundain routine, becomes a topic on our blog. But reading back ,helps you remember some of the funniest things that you said you'd never forget! Thanks for blogging Lynsey and keep it up!!! Love you!

Brooke said...

I haven't blogged in a LONG time and I miss it. Marc doesn't understand why I love reading blogs about friends-other people's lives and experiences but there is something enriching about it and I LOVE it. It is my big timer waster! :) But, yes please keep blogging. I don't comment often but I love your blog-I have literally laughed and cried reading it. BLOG ON!

MeggyT said...

Deal...and what is this mystery blog you have sister?

Kris said...

Pintrest smintrest indeed! My pintrest interest lasted only a couple of months and then I realized I don't love to look at houses/rooms/furniture/hot body's that will probably never be mine, so I am done with it, except to actually pin some thing I want to save and go back to. None of this browsing and wish-I-had-that stuff, waste of my time.
But blogging on the other hand, I still keep up with friends and their blogs, i love to read about their lives and keep in touch that way, I'm with ya on that one! As far as me blogging still, it's so hard. It's hard to find time to do it. The more kids I have the harder it is to find time to do it. Also moving three times in 9 months will also cause me to neglect the blog, but hopefully the moving stuff will slow down here soon. I want to blog, I love to blog even if I don't post beautifully worded (like yours) blog posts, I like to do it. I love to have it recorded and I agree it can be totally therapeutic. So I will promise to try harder to put stuff up on my blog if you promise to read it even if it is long/boring/short/not worded beautifully etc. okay? And I will most definitely keep reading your blog, long into our nursing home years ;)

Fawn Becker said...

You're SO right! I love reading about my friend's families and what they are up to & hardly anybody blogs anymore. It's a bummer. Glad you're still at it :)

Lauren Horsley said...

It was you who introduced me to blogging, which has taken me on an amazing journey - both of self-discovery and literally around the world! I shall blog as long of my fingers can type! And when they get too arthritic to tap the keys, I will buy a pet parakeet and train him to tap the keys with his beak for me!

LONG LIVE THE BLOG!