Putting Your Life Online

As the days go by, it's more and more common for our lives to flash across the many digital billboards in cyberspace. Whether it be the average "day in the life" or the truly exceptional cross planet jaunt, the blogasphere has you covered.

Don't worry, while there is great wisdom in carefully selecting what and how much you advertise to your digital global neighbors, this isn't a diatribe. Far from it. It's a free form observation of almost two years in the public online scene by a self described "nobody with a blog".

Joining Facebook and Blogging were both scary things for me. Yes, be glad you're sitting down for the revelation that seems to highly contradict my very, ahem, "energetic" nature. Putting more of myself, personal life, info, pictures, movies, etc out to the world at large was a very exposing thing. While I've since gotten used to the notion and barely give it a second thought, the first couple weeks made my skin crawl. Was I doing the right thing? Was too much personal stuff going out? Can any of this be used against me later? All those questions flashed through my grey matter. It was then that I came up with some limits born out of good sense.

While I have griped once in a great while, the majority of what I post, both on the blog, and other mediums is positive. Whether a well wish to a friend or "atta boy" to a company with a great product or service, people can't fault you for saying good things, especially in ways that help them "save face", i.e., the Japanese method. Seeing my random words from random times in Google searches much later cemented this idea. Plus, as the old Southern saying goes, "You get more with honey than you do with vinegar." People and companies remember.

As far as articles for other sites and photos, I try to keep them comical and fun. Same for my personal travels and random experiences. This is entertainment, i.e., a voluntary service after all. Not EVERYTHING I ever do, say, think, feel, or ponder, will wind up here. It would be a combo of too much information, boring, or just plain uncomforatable to others looking for an entertaining escape. Plus, we ALL have skeletons, and while privacy is dwindling, some things, I just don't need to know about others, mainly so I can rest peacefully at night. Anyone reading this will likely concur. Besides, would you REALLY want to know everything about what goes on in your next door neighbors home? No. Translation: Censure, pacing, and hilights are my friends. :)

Since my face is on video and pictures, it's easier to identify me. Or stalk. Or whatever, especially if someone has a beef or an odd fascination. This is risk, even though it's more common and now socially accepted. Since only celebs dealt with this sort of thing years ago, it's a new experience for the everyman/everywoman like you and I. I'm still getting used to this one. Feels kinda itchy, you know?

Occasionally you will have trolls or people who won't hesitate to brutally tell you what they think of you. Why they single you out to unleash their pent up hostilities and insecurities is a mystery, but if you put your life out on the interweb for others to see, this is par for the course. I used to have a YouTube account and closed it because, for whatever reason, folks didn't like my videos. That's fine, I listened to what folks said learned from it. Still stung too.

Conversely, and more often the case here, a lot of very nice people have come out of the woodwork to say some exceptionally nice things about my life and blog. Even my own parents who read regularly. As you guess, to hear the good things really brighten your day and really keep you going. It also tells you that the countless hours of passion you've poured into a particular artform/self expression, have been totally worth it. It also makes you stagger at the countless hours of therapy they'll need after reading your opus. ;)

Like any situation in life, good and bad goes hand in hand. Sometimes there's a whole belt pouch with more of one or the other, waiting to spring out. Putting your life, photos, writings, etc online for the world to see has been a scary, yet over all rewarding experience. Granted, it's a learning thing, but the opportunities doing so has provided, have enriched my life. It's also let me reconnect with dear old friends, classmates, and meet even more interesting people. It's also made me more active and forced me to learn more about tourism, the hospitality industry, and the off shoots of the amusement industry. Learning and growth are very good things.

Well, now you have my perspective from a few mile markers in the public journey. Hopefully, this helps you in some way. :)