Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Blogging and Relationships

Back in my archives, I’ve written several posts about blogging.

Today, I would like to combine some of those posts and share a little more about my feelings on blogging and relationships…

I will occasionally hear people who for one reason or another decide to stop blogging. And in their final farewell post, will tell their readers that they've decided to return to the REAL world.

Now, my questions to these people are…

What do you mean by REAL?

Does real mean that you only consider “flesh and blood” interactions with people, REAL?

And in what way do you consider the time we’ve spent sharing with one another all these years, NOT real?

Perhaps I feel differently about blogging than some people do, because the relationships and interactions that I have through this blog are very REAL to me.

Do I physically SEE all of you?

No.

But that doesn’t make my relationship with you any less real, than if I was standing in front of you.

Blogging allows us to SEE on a deeper level because we’re connecting through energy.

And not only do we connect through the energy of our words, but also through the gifts of expressing our art, photographs, travels, and life experiences.

Personally, I can tell more from feeling someone’s energy, than I can from ever seeing them. Whenever I visit someone’s blog, I instantly feel them.

Relationships through blogging are like any other relationship.

Some people we spontaneously connect with, and others we don’t.

Some are long standing, and others are only for a short time.

Some days we feel like talking and other days we feel more quiet.

As bloggers, we can agree or disagree, we can laugh, we can cry, and we can support one another through health issues, deaths, or breakups. Our physical presence is not always needed to touch one another.

I’ve heard it said that Internet relationships are not real because you can hide behind a computer screen and project a false image of yourself.

But don’t some people do that outside of the Internet, too? I mean, seriously, if someone wants to hide and project, they certainly don‘t need a computer screen to do it.

So that’s a reality either way.

I completely understand if someone feels the need to leave blogging because they may be spending too much time online and neglecting things outside of the Internet, or even if they simply no longer wish to blog.

However, those are completely different reasons, than to think that you’re leaving a place that was never REAL.

Blogging is real.

It’s an experience that has made my life more real and rich, because it has expanded my understanding of people and has increased my relationships.

And some of these relationships, I’ve had the pleasure to meet in person.

So, as I conclude this post, I would like to say to the ladies and gentlemen who stop by here and share your lives with me…

…thank you for our relationships.

I feel you in our own unique way.

And you’re REAL.