so when i went to make the leta reference in the last post, i also, of course, caught up on the last few days of dooce, and this post struck me.
apart from the fact that it must be kind of weird to find yourself dreaming about blogging panels, it struck me as a really interesting example of a kind of personal expression that really has no clear parallel at any other point in history – the ability to share experiences of the type: “embarrassing but still emotionally intense experience that i don’t really want to make a big deal about but it still involved person x and now i think about it when i see them so it feels funny for them to not know about it” in a semi-public forum, where person x doesn’t have to directly respond.

this is something that really fascinates me about blogs, because they open up this space of private stuff that everyone goes through, and that we can all really resonate with, but that we don’t really talk about much because it’s kind of awkward to actually talk about such things, because a lot of what they trigger is hard to put into words. i mean, a lot of us have probably had dreams involving other people that are kind of weird and we want to tell them, but then when you go to tell them, and they’re absorbing the weirdness of it while looking you in the face as you sit there, expectant and kind of embarassed despite your efforts to the contrary, there’s often this air of “ok… that’s sweet, but… what else am i supposed to say?” on one side, and an impulse to dismiss the whole thing and move on to safer territory on the other.
so neither person really gets to enjoy the story much, which is a shame.

now though, i imagine cases where one person writes a blog entry about something they thought or felt or dreamed or sang to themselves in the shower, and the person they thought or felt or dreamed or sang about trips over it while drinking coffee at work, or checking ticket prices, or looking up the name of that guy in that one movie with that other chick from that music video. and then there is this glorious moment where the person can just sit there, with no need to wonder whether a funny expression crosses their face or a funny noise escapes their lips, and give a few seconds of full attention to the reality of this person in their life, and all of the craziness and gorgeousness and scariness and excitement that goes with the package.
and those kinds of moments are awesome gifts.

i imagine the unsolicited hugs, the knowing smiles, and the jokes at the end of the day.
and also all the days where nothing is said and life just trods along as usual, but the air is richer between all of us than it has ever been before.
and it makes me happy, and excited.

but maybe it’s just springtime and i’m a sappy ball of hormone juice.

you can decide on your own time.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 12th, 2006 at 4:47 pm and is filed under admiration, links, on blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.