So Much Cooler

I am quitting my blog.

Really, I am.

I mean it this time.

It takes too many hours, and, ultimately, much of what I write is misunderstood.

If you’re a blogger or a Facebooker or a participant in an online forum, you’ve probably had similar thoughts. But then….

a friend confides that something I’ve written made her smile

or a blogging relative from across the country emails me with a letter about feeling closer through reading blogs

or I catch my son reading new posts and laughing out loud.

So I write again, or put up a few photos and save quitting for another day.

When the computer geniuses of the past created the internet, they may have envisioned online shopping, quick access to information and corporate communication. But I doubt they fathomed how completely HUMAN the World Wide Web would become. People are connecting in a way that our ancestors could only dream of— chess geeks play online matches, singles find mates (or at least dates), new mothers commiserate and share advice. The internet has a forum for every interest, every hobby, every avenue of thought. Never before has there been such a fantastic opportunity for human beings to truly understand each other’s hearts and motives.

And yet, we continue to judge poorly.

I make a conscious effort on my blog to reveal the dark and the light, but still, I edit my life as much as I do my pictures. Yes, I might tell you about my burnt bread, but I’m not going to share the details of my fight with my teenager or my sleepless nights over what I can't even tell. I leave enough out that you could certainly draw some false conclusions.

Then, I turn around and draw false conclusions based on someone else’s blog.

We know so very much about each other, and still so little.

But, I wouldn’t go back.

Through blogging I have made incredible friends. People I was meant to know; people who make me think and laugh and cry; people like you. Many of my friends are so important to me, so much a part of my thoughts that I forget we don't talk daily. And interestingly, when I do talk to friends in the flesh, the only thing that surprises me is their word choice (everyone is more or less talkative than they seem online).

Some of my sweetest experiences have been with neighbors– women just around the corner or right next door–whom I finally understand (at least a little) by really listening. And I find myself wishing that more people would talk to me so that I could really get to know them too.

But then again, when would I know them all? How could I know them all? How do you balance social life with your other responsibilities? Do you think we misinterpret people’s intentions more online or face to face?