Monthly Archives: August 2013

Earlier this week, I had a sort of online disagreement with someone.

Actually, I’m kind of torn about that sentence for a couple of reasons. First, because the “online” might suggest to some of you that this was an internet thing versus someone I know in real life and second because “disagreement” may be to strong (or too weak) a word for what happened, depending on your perspective. (I really want to be honest here, this being a post about authenticity and all.)

Boring story short, an acquaintance that I know if real life dug up something totally benign that I had posted on Facebook three weeks ago (a compliment about someone else that we both know) and started causing all manner of drama over it. I’m really not going to get into the details because 1.) it’s super trivial and 2.) even unreasonable people deserve their privacy and 3.) I no longer let other people’s drama keep me company.

(Please don’t waste a moment of your precious life being curious about the details; it’s beyond boring and there is world full of wonder you could be exploring instead. Seriously, promise me you’ll climb a tree or take a hot air balloon ride or something today.)

I only bring this up because this person posted a really ranty rant about me online and said something about how terrible it would be if my “followers”* found out what kind of person I really am or some such nonsense. There was a lot more (like, a lot more) but that particular comment stuck with me because I have made it my practice never to say anything online or in writing that I wouldn’t be happy to see on my own blog. The way the internet works these days, posting anything online that you wouldn’t stand behind is just sort of.. self destructive? Obtuse? I’m struggling for the right word here. Stupid?

But, besides all that, I really try my best to be my most authentic self on this blog. I think the only real differences between the me you read here and me in real life are that I swear a lot more in person (like, a lot more) and I have a pretty wicked sense of humor that wouldn’t necessarily come across in writing, so I dial it back.

That being said, I am a work in progress and there is much room for improvement. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last year or so working on things like confronting problems head on and becoming less reactionary. I still spend a lot of time trying to figure out how I actually feel about things and trying to give myself time before reacting. I have a long way to go and I definitely screw up sometimes, but I am always working on being a better, more authentic person.

Which leads me to my question: do you say things online that you would be embarrassed for your “real life” friends to see, or vice versa? And do you have an online “persona” that your real life friends wouldn’t recognize? I’m really curious about this because the internet is changing our society at such an incredible pace that I’m not sure we have figured out all the implications yet.

I’d love to hear your take on this.

*As you may have intuited, the word “followers” really creeped me out. It conjures up images of Jim Jones, but maybe that’s just me. “Readers” might be a better choice or words. “Customers” maybe? I dunno, just not followers.

**Totally off topic, but I read somewhere that there are all these women who were really inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love  and they make pilgrimages to the town where she lives. The locals call them “Liz-bians” which is freaking hilarious!

***In case this post was all “Too long; didn’t read” for you, here are some animals jumping on trampolines.

It’s “Tell Me Something Good Tuesday” y’all!  I’ll go first.

Hmm…Wonder what’s in those giant boxes?

Only the Colored Flock yarn for our CSA shareholders, that’s all!

Isn’t is lovely? It’s a bit more grey this year than last, which is part of what I love about this yarn: every version is a unique representation of a single year’s clip. All the early morning feedings and late nights waiting for lambs are represented the yarn. It’s a physical record of our year that we can hold in our hands and wear on cold days.

And to me, that is something incredibly happy making.

(We will be shipping this yarn out in a couple of weeks once the rest of the CSA yarn arrives. Lauria’s going down from Boston to supervise the great mailing, which is always hella complicated.)

Okay, your turn. Tell me something good, y’all!