Blogging vs. Real Life

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I received an email recently from someone. You see, I decided to have an impromptu get-together with a few blogging friends whom I’ve never before met. I opened it up to the world at large, and waited to see what would happen.

Several people declined.

Though many of their reasonings were justifiable, I tended to note that there was a common thread lying betwixt many of the ‘locals’ decision not to attend; this seemed to stem from a sense of self-imposed inadequacy. In other words, not feeling that their true selves would measure up with others’ imagined expectations.

Through the medium of blogging we’re permitted to expose ourselves to the world. Well, those portions we feel comfortable enough sharing with the world at large—a group of strangers we feel a bit of a connection to, even though we’ve never met them in real life. We feel this because we know them—or part of them—the part they are willing to share.

Those who read our blogs and that actually know us outside of the matrix we tend to feel no reservation at taking part in an activity with, yet many of these same people balk at the idea of dropping the curtain to the strangers and allowing them to see the great and powerful Wizard of Oz as he truly is—weaknesses and all.

We’re all human.

Many of you follow Courtney Kendrick—better known as cjane in the realms of bloggers. In blogdom people seem to rise to a celebrity status and we find ourselves comparing ourselves to them because of how many comments they get, how many followers they have, and from the sheer brilliance of some of their posts.

This is not the way it should be.

Is Courtney amazing? Heck yes. We worked together a few years ago—BC (Before Chup). We went on camping trips with 50+ kids from our school together, she helped out in my classroom on a regular basis—dressing up as many a fanciful character, and even today I still head up to visit her from time to time as she only lives a few miles away.

Is she perfect?

Heck no.

Is she awesome?

Absolutely.

Is she human?

Yes.

I worry that many of us balk at the idea of exposing who we really are because we are so busy comparing ourselves with others and are afraid of letting them—our ourselves—down. Life is much too short to worry about the expectations of others, their thoughts, and worrying about how somebody may—or may not—react.

I still plan on heading up to Texas Roadhouse (as it appears to be winning on the poll) and I would love it if there were a couple dozen people brave enough to attend. If not, that’s okay, too. I can enjoy a cut of steak whether or not I have a group of friends to eat with.

However, let us remember not be too critical of ourselves, or let ourselves hold us back.

Sometimes, we’re our own worse enemy.