Mary Clara has left a new comment on your post "To Blog Or Not To Blog - Part 2":
Mimi, I read your 'to blog or not to blog part 1' post late last night -- too late to prop myself up and comment -- and then grabbed yesterday's mail to look at as I soaked in the tub before bed. What should I find in the Scientific American (June issue) but an article by Jessica Wapner, 'The Healthy Type: The therapeutic value of blogging becomes a focus of study.' It's on p. 32 of the magazine but also online at Scientific American.
It is a short article worth reading in full. But I would like to comment about why blogging of the kind you do (which I love to participate in) may be found to be 'therapeutic'. I find it a great outlet myself to post comments on other people's blogs regarding matters both serious and silly. Why? Among other things, blogging RESTORES TO US OUR VOICE AS CITIZENS of our nation and of the world, and as members of the Church. We are living in a time when so much of what happens to our country, the world community and ourselves is being controlled by big institutions and mediated by propaganda. Blogging undermines that. It enables us to find each other regardless of geographic distance and speak out against the crimes and the lies, imagine alternatives, and organize actions (including prayer which is a powerful kind of action).
It goes without saying that selfishly I hope you will continue, but not at the cost of your own well-being. I haven't had time to read all of yesterday's comments yet but will just encourage you, if you do carry on, to put this on a schedule that allows for your life to be balanced. Maybe treat it like a job that you do a certain number of hours per week, at a particular time of day, and stay within those boundaries. The blogging should nourish your soul and keep your spirits up, not wear you down or wear you out.
Whatever you decide we'll stay connected, dear Mimi.
Yes, Mary Clara and everyone, we will stay connected.
Here's an excerpt from the article to pique your curiosity:
Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.
"Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings."
ReplyDeleteMimi, would you allow me to add a word of warning here?
I don't doubt the value of such writing. But I wonder sometimes if there shouldn't perhaps be a bit more care about its public posting.
As a lawyer I tremble when I see things of great personal privacy posted, knowing that these may become available to the unscrupulous, or dragged into the public forum and used as a weapon.
Far be it from me to discourage anyone from writing. But for therapeutic purposes private journals, private correspondence, and writing behind a more heavily-guarded anonymity may do the trick as well.
Just, as I say, a word of caution. As Joe Friday loved to say, "Anything you say can and will be used against you."
And as Yeats said, "Never give all the heart."
Wow, that's interesting. I believe it...I started my blog as a way to ease back into writing. It's always been a dream of mine to write a book, but the whole idea seemed pretty overwhelming at times, so basically did nothing. A few short months ago I learned about blogging, and I thought it seemed a lot less daunting. I figured it would give me practice--I could write a little bit every day, and who cares if it's not great all of the time.
ReplyDeleteWhat I've also learned (from reading Fran and others)is that the support and fellowship of other bloggers is like striking gold. If I knew that this rescource had been available for as long as it has, I probably would've dived in long ago.
Whatever you decide, it sounds like you've made some terrific friends and have a lot of people who will always be with you. Lucky you! :)
Rick, there's truth in what you say. We must take care. I have gone back and deleted a few of my more personal posts during a particularly stressful period.
ReplyDeleteChristy, it's true. I have made many wonderful real and virtual friends through blogging and commenting on other blogs.
I, too, have weeded my blog on occasion, but more out of personal choice than legal danger.
ReplyDeleteOf course, as the Duke of Wellington once said.....
I remember your second entry, and quote from there..
ReplyDelete"I figure that since it's all set up, I might post a bit, although I'll be talking to myself."
I thought then, that you would soon learn that you more than 'a bit' to say and you would not be talking to just yourself. I wondered if you would get as caught up in it as others. Yes you did!
I love to read you Mimi. I check in even when I don't comment. Thanks, again, Mimi.
Susan, many thanks.
ReplyDeleteI try not to post anything that will get me sued, but as far as having anything dragged into the public forum and used against me, I don't worry too much about that. I'm old and retired. What could they do to me? Ruin my reputation? So what? I'm already part way there.
An interesting take on blogs, freedom, and privacy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/magazine/25internet-t.html?hp
Rick Allen - while you have grown on me, I would almost admit to fondness, I so dislike the use of fear as a motivator.
ReplyDeleteAnd for someone so unwilling to reveal oneself (although you have a blogger id now, good!) you spend a fair amount of time among us.
Anyway, I digress- Mimi, your writing is therapy for me, when I read it.
Such selfish pandering from me.
I am glad that Mary Clara sent that!
PS Rick Allen - I think that no matter what Yeats said, Jesus commanded otherwise.
ReplyDeleteIMO anyway.
OK, shutting up now or Mimi will have to bar me like a common troll!!
Rick, I'm a lot less cautious than you. You might even call me reckless. There was something freeing about turning 70. I had my three score and ten years behind me, and the rest was lagniappe, time to be wild and crazy.
ReplyDeletePerhaps, it's occupational, but I do find quite a few attorneys more cautious than the rest of us. From where I am (not at my home computer) I can't get to the article you link to. You should learn to do html links. It's easy. If I were a close relative of yours, I'd probably drive you bonkers.
Well, I'll start by agreeing with my friend, Rick. I have, in fact, faced some "blowback" from things I said on my blog, things that were "therapeutic" at the time, but which came back to haunt me from an audience I didn't realize I had.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I almost shut my blog down. And then I didn't.
But it's a weird animal, blogging; and I'm not always certain of it's value. It can be, as Athenae at First Draft calls it, a "crack den," because it becomes compulsive, especially if you develop an audience that you want to connect with. (or maybe that's just me.)
It can be grand. It can be ridiculous. It can be fun. It can be a burden. I started mine to keep my sanity, and so I could discuss, or at least write and publish, on topics of interest to me. But blogging also demands a certain level of novelty, and few among us are Isaac Asimov or Joyce Carol Oates or Anthony Trollope: i.e., we just don't have that much to write about.
And I'm not sure Jesus commanded us to blog, anyway. Or to seek therapy, come to that.
Well, I'm wandering off and I'll be in trouble if I don't stop. But I understand, and sympathize, with the desire to slow down, if not rest entirely. I sense a rhythm to these things, a rising and falling level of interest across whatever audience a blog commands.
Not unlike the rhythm of a pastor preaching to a congregation over a series of months or years, actually. Even pastors need time off; even they sometimes go to the "pickle barrel" just because they have to say something, but they don't really have anything "new" to say. I used to complain about the Protestant emphasis on the sermon in worship.
Funny I find myself back in a position where the emphasis is on what I have to say, or what I can stir somebody else to respond to. Which is what blogging is all about, at its base. And sometimes, that's just too much to do. At least all the time.
FranIam, was that troll or trollop?
ReplyDeleteThat Mary Clara, always with the good insights! You're right, Mimi.
Rick, I actually agree with you. I do shudder at some blogs I read, sometimes at the TMI factor, but also for fear for people. Fran, I know Jesus commands us to live without fear, but a) there are dangerous folks out there, so I am careful about posting family photos (though I confess to loving yours! but no one ever said we didn't have contradictions inside us - and my choices about boundaries are mine, each has to make her own) and b) some folks need to watch what they say because of their jobs (as in: preserving their job safety), their church status or other religious status, confidentiality, or simply erring on the side of discretion. It can be tricky but the old French proverb "Dans le doute, abstiens-toi" is a good guideline. ("When in doubt, refrain.")
Also it's always a good idea not to say something that 1) you wouldn't want quoted in the newspaper and 2) wouldn't hold up in a court of law.
That said, Mimi, I don't think I've ever gotten a TMI (Too Much Information) feeling from your blog. I do remember your mentioning some difficult family times.
Blogging is therapeutic. I use it that way myself, and it is a combo of personal outlet and public service. But I would never confuse a blog with a personal journal, and I think it is dangerous to do so, for all kinds of reasons.
As always, remember blogs are public places. I think that is the best shorthand to guide us in our writing.
We may make different decisions about how we relate to public places and spaces, but the public nature of the internet is undeniable. (Which is also why some folks use pseudonyms as a precaution. Works in some cases.)
'nuff from me for now.
Glad you're there, Mimi!
You see, Rmj, you almost shut down your blog, but you didn't. You're not all that cautious either, are you?
ReplyDeleteI was putting pressure on myself to produce, aping others who were naturally much more productive than I and burning myself out. That had to go.
What's so amazing and rewarding to me is the exchange. If I had no comments, I probably shut down the blog and switch to a diary for my therapy.
Another reward is the friends I have made in real and virtual life. I have not met one fellow blogger whom I have not liked in real life. I must be at about 20 real life encounters now. What are the chances that I'd meet 20 new people at a party and like them all? Since I live in a small conservative city, it's been a godsend to have like-minded folks to talk to.
Yay for blogging! However, that doesn't mean that I will do it for the rest of my life.
I will not post photos or names of family or friends. Grandpère is "out there" because of the First Draft house gutting gathering and pictures. I agree that some folks post way too much information about theirs and their families and friends personal lives.
Jane, I'll just say that some of my comments at the website of an English priest we know and love end up in Google. His site is where I allow the naughty me to comment, thinking that the words stay hidden away deep in his comments, until they turn up in a Google search. Oh, well.
ReplyDeleteRick, I'm home now, and I read the article in the New York Times Magazine. It is a cautionary tale, a tale of excess, and one that, as a blogger, I'm glad I read. Of course, it could never happen to me. ;o) Here's the link.
ReplyDeleteOf course, as the Duke of Wellington once said.....
ReplyDeleteRR, surely not the one about wars being won on the playing fields of Eton.
This one perhaps?
Be discreet in all things, and so render it unnecessary to be mysterious about any.
I confess that I looked the second one up.
I read that article, too, Mimi, and think she is correct in saying she has long-term difficulties with apporpriate boundaries.
ReplyDeleteI debated whether to post the grandsons' pictures on my blog, but think it will be alright, with no last names involved. Besides, I wanted everybody to see them, and how proud I am of them!
How did that happen?
ReplyDeleteJohnieb, I was thrilled to see the handsome boys.
ReplyDeleteMy children are queasy about my blogging, so I assume that they would not want their children's pictures posted. They are also queasy about my meeting up with folks that I know only from the internet. But, hey! Now I know you in real life. They should relax now, doncha think?.
Mimi -- I have BEEN AWAY FROM A COMPUTER for 5 days and have missed the "to blog or not to blog" discussion. A couple of heartfelt comments:
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your blog and the comments. I also enjoy finding your comments on other blogs I read.
I cannot imagine how people like the MadOne, Paul the BB et alia manage to post so much wonderful and thoughtful or goofy stuff. I have a hard time READING all my favorite blogs. To my surprize, they HAVE brought me to a new sense of the value of petitionary prayer (which I do not understand) as I respond to (and request) prayer needs. Who wudda thought?!
I guess that I suspect that you KNOW what "the next right thing" to do is -- that is: whether you ought to blog/respond/post right now. I get all screwed up if I try to decide what to do for the next week/month/year -- way too much discernment -- right now is always pretty clear. Perhaps that may be true for you as well.
Be well, Mimi.
Prior to a year ago, I would have scoffed at all that. But this (almost) year of blogging has brought me to a whole new group of supportive and caring friends. And I appreciate Rick Allen's words of warning. They are valid and to be remembered.
ReplyDeleteGrandmere, the Duke of Wellington's saying that I was referring to was ...
ReplyDelete"Publish and be damned!"
look what I missed! jut one tiny 2-day migraine and a conference. I do agree both with the article and with rick allen.
ReplyDeleteWhen I told my (new) counselor I was keeping a blog, she thought this was a healthy outlet for me. But I also said, I use my name, so there are things I can't/don't tell.
SusanKay, that we seem to have a prayer circle type of ministry (and I do believe it is a ministry) in our blog community is a wonderful thing. There are no limits of time or place on intercessory prayer.
ReplyDeleteRR, I'm not at the, "Publish and be damned!" point. I'm careful now, even more careful than I was when I first began and thought no one knew who I was. My name is out there, but I still like using the pseudonym. As I've said before, I answer to Mimi, since my grandchildren call me that, and I like it better than my own name.