I wrote a post two days ago about my adventures with blogging so far and the expectations I have of myself from here on out with this space of mine. I said that I was tired of having expectations, I want this to be my blogging space and I want it to be an honest one.
Not surprisingly, a ton of you had great things to say about that and that makes me really happy, but also very nervous. Honesty is something that all bloggers strive to achieve successfully on their blog without overwhelming readers, but while staying true to themselves. Or at least, hopefully.
I’ve always been me on this blog, but I’ve always held back. Not purposely, mind you. I’ve just always wondered where my line was between the internet and my real life. I’m still kind of figuring out my boundaries, but I’m happy to know that honesty is something people WANT to see. That’s not just me. Sometimes it’s easy to just feel like you’re alone in feeling a certain way about what you’re doing and what you’re trying to achieve.
So it’s all nice and dandy to talk about being honest and truthful, but where is my honesty really? I mean I blog, but I’ve only RECENTLY started sharing my links on Twitter for more of my real life friends to see. My close friends have followed my blog since the beginning, but after some experiences last year I started making things more secret around here. I stopped sharing my link everywhere. I stopped being as open and honest as I used to be. As I wanted to be.
I’ve decided that I want to start being a blogger that is proud to be blogging. I am so happy to come home every day and write a post and share it with whoever will read, but why is it that I can’t confront this weird fear of mine, and just share it with everyone else, too? I want to write about the things that I’ve been too afraid to write about– things that matter, but things that won’t offend or get me in trouble of course- and I want to have the guts to let anyone read it.
Sharing with friends and family is a huge step. It’s something I’m working towards. Twitter was step one, and I’m going to work on being okay with sharing on Facebook and maybe other websites I use.
That being said, I’m going to stop blogging about honesty and start writing those posts ASAP. I’m excited (but anxious) to put my thoughts down about things that have been bugging me for a while, but that I’ve been too nervous to share.
So, you know, here’s my heads up. I’m going to give this honesty thing a real deal shot. It seems to be something worth trying. I’m going to be more open and I’m going to make my blog a place I am proud to tell people about.
Who do you share your blog with? Do you have any of these fears if you DO share your blog? Do you get nervous that your real life friends will judge you for your content? Someone, calm me down. 🙂
Press Play. 
I share my blog with anyone and everyone who’ll pay attention. I want people to read what I have to say because I *hope* it’ll make them think…if only for a moment…about their life, and the choices they’re making, and whether or not they could be doing better.
Of course, I’m not trying to imply that my life is perfect. Even as good as it is, there’s a lot that I could improve. Actually, I’m far more honest on Facebook…maybe to the point of being offensive. If my friends post something that I think is totally stupid, I tell them it’s totally stupid. It’s kind of a fault I have…no filter between my brain and my fingers. I tend to offend, even if my intentions are good.
Just remember, even if you end up offending people, your real friends will understand and not hold it against you. Like I said before, more people need to be honest.
I’m definitely honest when it comes to telling people how it is in life- maybe not as much as you hehe- but I do DO it. I feel like it’s different in my writing though and I’m not sure why. I think I’m just more honest in my writing but in a way that I’m not in real life. Who knows. I’ll always be willing to give my opinion on a subject, but sometimes I think that talking about the parts of my life that I’m not USED to talking about is a hell of a lot harder. We’ll see how it goes though 🙂
I share my blog with most people, just hide it from my parents mostly 🙂 I’m glad you’re working on being more honest. I think it makes the whole blogging experience that much more enriching and fulfilling when you feel like you’re being yourself, and not just another blogger in the niche. I think you’ll feel a lot better and more relaxed with it if you just do it and love it 🙂 Good for you!
You’re right, I think I WILL feel better by just being more of myself and not being afraid of who reads it. I just get those awful butterflies any time a person in my real life comes across my blog and tells me so. It’s usually a good response but I’m still like AHH, you know things about me you definitely did not before!
Hello lovely… I completely agree with you, I’ve had the internal struggle between being honest; (chatting about my dislike for things, my sex life, general awkwardness I find myself in) and being a very ‘normal’ person and I figured that, either way, people will like me or not. Whether I try to please them. I love seeing your personalitly come out in your posts, from your obsession with the cast of Harry Potter to your undying love for literature. I love it! So any more would be a welcome bonus!… at the end of the day, people will form their own views whatever you do, so you may aswel be yourself… which is good for you because your a fucking fabulous little person xx
Well, like I told you via Twitter today… This comment was just great & thank you 🙂
I completly understand, im the same. My girlfriend has my link to my blog, but no one else. Maybe for many reasons, sometimes things are personal. I would like to one day share my blog with everyone. I don’t mind my girlfriend seeing because i know she wont judge me like everyone else. Its easyer when someone you don’t know judges you because it doesnt matter as much.
I hope this all goes well.
Jessie.
Thank you! I can only hope that whenever I get a boyfriend he’s as understanding about my blog as your girlfriend is with yours. I think that shows just how much she (or he, in my case) cares for you. You’re really wearing your heart on your sleeve in your blog so it’s nice to know that people don’t treat you differently after reading it.
Dude, I’ve only recently shared my blog with the world. And by recently, when I launched my book as in last week. And my blog is HONEST. Mind you, a lot of friends and family read it but I’d never opened it as much as I am now.
It IS terrifying. And I’ll let you know how it goes for me. But for now, I’ve had really positive feedback. And I know that the people who like me, won’t like me anymore or less, for reading my blog. And those who don’t like me, won’t like me anymore or less, for reading my blog.
At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. 🙂
That is a great mentality, haha! I need to adopt that one too. Your blog IS very honest but that is one of the things I love about it. So hopefully if I’m trying to open up more, people will feel the same way about mine. But yeah, it’s just nerve-wracking.
Also, the fact that you wrote a book that compiled all your blogs together is just another step in opening yourself up to the world- but I feel like people respect someone so much more for doing that. I don’t know, maybe that’s just me!
I started putting my posts onto my FB page last week. Like you I found it a big step to take. Suprisingly though I’ve only had positive feedback. Take the chance and your true friends wont let you down.
I only share my blog wth one of my real life friends….I’ve often thought about ‘coming clean’ as it were, but a little bit of fear has always held me back. Well done Melissa, I look forward to reading these new honesty posts 🙂
I still haven’t taken the plunge and shared my blog with my acquaintances so I understand where you are coming from! I keep saying one day soon, so I’ll look to you for inspiration! Good luck!
Pingback: Guest Post: Michelle from Michelle Koechle Photography « Press Play.