I’m sitting here at the computer with a sleeping Julian on my chest, while two men from South Africa clean out the air ducts in my house. Ava and Grandma left for a few hours to go to the library and buy material to make clothes for her baby “Trajan” and to get away from all of the noise. I figured I’d use this time to catch up on some Group Talks on Maya’s Mom and I came across some posts about Blogher, specifically the upcoming annual Blogher conference which is in July this year in Chicago.
I never gave any thought to attending the conference before, even though I’ve been blogging for over 2 years now, but after reading many women say what a great time they had in the past and how they are planning to return this year, I started wondering if it might be something I’d like to do someday.
My reading on Maya’s Mom lead me to Elizabeth’s blog Table for Five, specifically this post about her experience at Blogher ’06 and some things she took away from the closing session.
She wrote:
“1. Find your voice.
2. Stop apologizing. Be proud of who you are and what you do.
3.Stop hesitating. Move yourself forward.
4. You ARE worthy.”
Those things really hit home for me, especially the part about “Stop apologizing. Be proud of who you are and what you do.” and “Stop hesitating. Move yourself forward.”
There are sometimes things I want to write about, but don’t for fear of offending someone, somewhere. Or if I do write about something controversial, like circumcision, I’m so careful to be as politically-correct as possible, that I feel like I’m walking on eggshells. But then I wonder, why is it my responsibility to protect people? It’s my blog and I should be able to write or not write about whatever I want. If people chose to read it, that is their prerogative, and if it bothers or offends them, they have the option to stop reading it.
I admire the bloggers (and several come to mind) who lay it all out there and say whatever the hell is on their mind, without regard for who it might upset. They are proud of who they are what they do. They don’t apologize for sharing THEIR thoughts on THEIR blog. I respect them for being true to themselves.
While I don’t imagine I will make it to Blogher this year, maybe I will make it a goal to go next year. It sounds like a very empowering and fun conference to attend. Maybe I can talk a few of my friends turned bloggers to go with me. (Hint, hint – you know who you are – Nicole, Heather, Julie, Sonja…) And in the meantime, I’m going to try to be more true to myself in my blogging and speak my mind. I am proud of who I am, so why should I be so afraid to put myself “out there”?
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And now for a “shout out.” Thank you Caroline, for including my blog among the five blogs you recommend. I think it’s awesome that you choose to read my blog even though it’s far removed from the world you are familiar with. :) Thanks for your open mindedness.
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