Zeitgeist?
I'm a little behind in the technology of the day. I don't IM, don't listen to an Ipod on the subway, my partner doesn't play X-Box after work, and I can't really figure out how to use my new camera phone. It takes me like 45 minutes to post on this blog. And I actually kind of pride myself on my techno-ignorance.
And blogs. As my friend Amy lamented, why do we have to check our friends blogs to see what's going on in their lives. Why can't we just talk about our deep thoughts, she asked. I agree. It would be true communion to have the deep face to face conversations that exist only in our fantasies. But the blog makes us pay attention to what we're saying. And for me, it erases some of the fears of intimacy, and "what if I say the wrong thing" that creep up in real time.
I also feel a stronger connection to my far-flung friends through their blogs (check out the list of blogs to the right, they're mostly links to friends blogs or websites). I get these little windows into their lives. I think I understand my friend Douglas' art for the first time, even though I've known him for years. I get to relish gems like this post from JWD, a friend studying for her PhD in liturgy. And I feel my fear of intimacy shrinking just a bit with every post on this blog.
I think I just heard Jacques Ellul roll over in his grave.
1 comment:
Hey there momma...I appreciate your post.
I'm like you. In my original weblog post around Christmas of 2004, a sort of "I'm not sure I agree with this, but here goes..." kind of thing, I called weblogging a "silent digital cacophony."
Seeing the record of thought made tactile is so inspiring to me. It's something I loved about working at museums and seeing people's notes and manuscripts. Today, so much of what we would otherwise see crossed out is lost forever when the delete key is pressed. There's something important about knowing someone changed their mind.
Nevertheless, weblogging is...well, what is it?
One reason I could never keep a journal was, due to my (overly) healthy artist ego, I assumed someone would read it someday. After all, I'm in the business of public self-expression. But I was paralyzed in that private moment because I wanted it to be well-written, well-presented, et al. I cared almost more for how the cover of the journal looked as I did for what I was potentially going to record in it. No surprise I have dozens of journals with a few pages written in each. The fact that the weblog format is public (and interactive) takes that personal "secret" dynamic away, gets it out of the way. And it's malleable. I can continually tinker, making a space for myself and others.
But I'd trade the blog in a second for you, too!
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