Welcome to the Blogosphere... 2.0?

I started hearing about blogs a few years ago. I looked at a few and thought..eh... Too personal. Why do people divulge such personal things online? What do the other people in their lives think about them blogging such intimate details? Why blog?

I explored a few blogs related to work. Eh. Good information. I still preferred websites. I still preferred to use the web as an informational source - a one way resource - with the web giving me information. I got behind online learning in a huge way within closed, asynchronous environments. Discussion boards, even instant message with friends. Sharing classroom resources - anywhere anytime learning was where it was at. I still fee strongly about that today and helping teachers open those doors that exist for them through online learning. But blogging? Hmmm.

Then I stumbled into Second Life. I found comfort in a new web identity. I was still generally the same person I am in my first life, but I could be choosy about the details I shared about who I am. As I grew in Second Life, I had a good friend - a good SLfriend - begin a blog. /me eyes Blissie Boucher (not to name any names... Gypsy woman...) That was quickly followed by my husband... Gaviota Coastline... Wow! Could I really just sit back and let this happen to me? Could I really just be a blogsideline sitter? Then another... The Guest House, Crighton Johin... and his wife, Jendalicious... who I hear was a reputable blogger in some other life I have yet to learn about. The dominoes were falling - click, click, click - and I knew they were headed my direction. I met some fascinating new people I never knew in-world (aka SL) like Joonie. Joonie's SL Journey inspired me and touched my heart. I gobbled up these bits. I felt empty and curious on days when my favorite bloggers failed to post. Where were they? Why didn't they blog? Internally I would will them to come back and post. (I still do that by the way... sorry I'm just a wee tad bit obsessive that way.)

So.. somewhere along that line...mid paragraph above I believe.. I decided I would be best to just jump in. I finally had a reason to blog. I felt compelled to share of my second life journeys. I felt an overwhelming sense of letting people know who I was and what I thought - beyond the pixelated version that SL offers. I was clear in my purpose and that fueled the words. The words poured out of my fingers across the keys. My seat was firmly planted on our couch and I knew I couldn't move until I had poured everything out of my heart in that first post that needed to flow. It felt good. It was a release. It was validating. It was... publishing. Could there be anything more exciting for someone who used to teach English 101 and 102? (please don't gag)

I anxiously awaited a response. Like a watched pot waiting to boil, I checked back time and time again to see if anyone had looked. I waited for comments. I added analytics so I could check stats. I posted again and again. Each time feeling more validated than the first. I poured over others blogs and commented - knowing that they may be hungry for response as well. (not that anyone was hungrier for validation than me... heehee).

Then, a few months ago... I learned a lifeblogging lesson. I can write to write. I can post just to post. I can do it for me. I don't need an audience. I don't need comments (even though I crave them). I can just write for writing's sake and feel the tremendous empowerment that comes from seeing my own thoughts come together to form an articulate post. I found silly ways to keep my blog affair going through the lean creative times... youtube, polls and images. I use those still to satisfy my need to post when I am out of time, or out of energy.

Then... insert car screech noises here... I found the "How is Bradley?" blog. I had known and just loved Bradley inworld. I had laughed so hard I cried at his trivia events at Popeyes. And, I had genuinely appreciated getting to know him, a little of his RLife (aka corn man visits and MCB), and we became friends who realized we both shared a history living in Phoenix. I had been missing Bradley inworld... he shared he was leaving for a while and I was sad. People leaving inworld sometimes never come back. He popped in for a quick visit and a dance one night and we discovered we both blogged. After searching him up, I was opened to new layers and levels of the blogosphere... for me it became personal blogging 2.0.

Bradley's blog is a tool for his personal growth and well-being. I am continually impressed by his ability to be so candid and honest. I admire his self-reflection. I smile at his anecdotes of family and laundry folding. I am so blessed to know him as a person - not just an avitar. And... the door was opened. He introduced me to something called Blog Catalog and others who write of amazingly personal journeys in this world. The blog as a tool for self-exploration, growth, and most importantly healing has been the biggest revelation for me in the 2.0 evolution of the blog. Shiv379's posts touch my soul. Shiv's Brain: Gripping images, heartfelt struggles, and just sheer humanness. Real people sharing some of the most personal details from deep in their beings... I am in awe.

Today I discovered a new treasure... Storied Mind. A blog with beautiful art from flickr and well crafted words. Would I have found JohnDX1 any other way? Maybe. Most likely not. Blog Catalog somehow connected us.

This web... this 2.0 social networking internet shaped world we live in now... is quite a phenomenon. A tool for sociologists and psychologists. An archive for historians. A place for people to be human. I am honored to have a place in it. I am appreciative of those who quietly led me to the water's edge. I am excited about the deep dives ahead of me into the depths of it.

Thank you for being so willing to share such an amazing piece of your soul with someone like me, with someone like whoever is reading it. Thank you for being a pioneer in the 2.0 web world. Thank you for helping the world to remember good things can come from the web and from human nature in general.