well i haven’t participated in one of these blog-tag-games in a while, but i got tagged by brother maynard so i couldn’t say no, hahaha. plus it was a good one to make me think about the carnival blog and why it’s been a fun & challenging thing for me in all kinds of ways.
here was the question: what are 5 ways blogging has changed your life?
here were the rules:
- write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively
- link back to the person who tagged you
- link back to the parent post (started by l. l. barkat)
- tag a few friends or five, or none at all
- post these rules – or just have fun breaking them.
i am only 8 months into this solo blog experiment. i said i’d try it for a year and see how it went and re-evaluate. anyway, here goes, here’s what i am learning through this crazy blog adventure:
1. i have a stronger voice than i thought. i knew i had some things i needed to say, but i honestly didn’t think anyone would really care all that much. knowing that some of these thoughts resonate with others and stir up all kinds of trouble (hopefully the good kind) has really surprised and inspired me. it has been healing for my soul to have the freedom to speak loudly & strongly and not be limited by the confines of church politics b.s.
2. it stirs up passion. sometimes that is what scares me. i sometimes don’t want to be as sold out for the kingdom, for the ways of Jesus, as i have become. i have always been a pot-stirrer in the church but i think being connected to the much wider body through this blog has really lit it on fire in my heart like never before, and it sort of freaks me out.
3. it is a practice in vulnerability. blogging is exposing. i have let it rip here and i am glad because honestly & authenticity are some of my highest values. but sometimes i have said “what in the $!*!&#(!) was i thinking?” because i know that right in that moment i am cut off from lots of opportunities to participate in certain “church systems” that actually could help me pay some bills. but that’s okay, the risk is worth it because hiding sucks. pretending sucks. juking and jiving to live in a system that is dysfunctional anyway sucks. i feel more integrated, less divided, but definitely more exposed. because i am at heart a people-pleaser, it is hard to know so many out here on the world wide web have the potential to be irritated with me, but it is also very healing to let go of it and not spend much time caring.
4. i have made some seriously cool friends. this has been the best part. i feel so thankful for the new men and women, brothers & sisters on the journey, that i have connected with. i feel privileged, honored, grateful, to know such wonderful people from across the oceans and the miles. i love the challenge. i love the diversity. i love the stories that parallel mine with different characters and circumstances but similar pain & struggles & dreams. i love that we are all from different places and doing different things but that there’s this beautiful thread that ties us together.
5. it has opened up my world far beyond my little life. wow, just so many cool thinkers & practictioners & experimenters & dreamers out here that i would have never been exposed to. i am consistently blown away by the challenges to my theology & spiritual practices & life & mission by what i read out here in blogland. i feel like the kingdom has really become The Kingdom (brother maynard, those caps are for you) in my mind & heart and i am not sure i would have been able to say that a few years ago.
and just to be a rule-breaker, #6 – it has fostered my computer addiction & sucked far more of my time than i ever imagined! yeah, i’m working on ways to lock up the darn thing a few days a week so i can actually get some space. me and my computer together is far, far, far from silence!
thanks all, for challenging me & encouraging me & being part of this crazy journey.
so my question back is how has your exposure to blog-land changed you?
ps: i am bad at tagging, if you want to participate, give it a whirl, would love to hear from you. just post the rules & links on your site.