It's Not Carved in Stone

I'm lucky to have an abundance of bright, clever and articulate friends who are generous enough to share their thoughts and their opinions with me. Lately, I've been suggesting that they begin writing their own blogs so that I'll be excused the burden of borrowing their best ideas.

Most of us have a mortal dread of speaking in public, and, I think, of publishing our thoughts. It probably comes from having very little faith in our abilities or confidence in our achievements to date. But also, there is the feeling that people will judge what we say too heavily and criticise it too harshly. I can only tell you my own experience with this process, and reassure you - so far, so good.

As I told all of you last time, I've been spending a great deal of time studying the statistics for Limited Vision, and that my fragile ego has been well pleased with what I've seen. The number of page views and the places from which they come continues to amaze me. Of course, statistics are only numbers. Each hit is an indication that somebody somewhere read something else that led them here. It doesn't let me know if that someone was pleased, amused or agreed with what I said. It doesn't tell me how long they stayed.

Nor does it tell me they disliked it enough to throw out their computer, or maybe even enough to burn their eyes out with red-hot needles. Quite honestly, I never even know if you're here by intention or by error, and sometimes you probably wonder about that too.

I went out for a quiet coffee this afternoon with a group of friends who don't do that sort of thing nearly often enough. One of them is Caer, who has just started her own blog, and is pursuing it with all of her talent and abundant energy - as usual. I told her that I like what I've read so far, and I'm looking forward to her next piece.

Margo took some time from caring for her poor, sick puppy to join us today. She is faithfully supplying us with posts on how her relationship with little Tiki is evolving, and any new pet owner can relate to and enjoy their adventures.

My friend Annie was there as well. She tells the best stories, and she tells them wonderfully. For some time, she's been thinking about starting a blog for her big cat Maggi. While I'm sure it will be a treat, I'd really rather read a blog about Annie.

The Tall Lady's workmate and our Facebook buddy, Norma, has completely ridiculed my suggestion that she should have her own blog. I can't imagine why. Norma is a fine photographer and a wise, funny, careful observer of the world around her. She is one of those people on whose honest and forthright opinion you can always depend. She'd be a jewel in this dustpile.

Those of you who have been here before know that my postings are not static. One of you will read them with a more careful and less fatigued eye than mine, and find errors in spelling, grammar, design or content. Sometimes when I've had the opportunity to read my post over, I'll find a way to say the same thing that sounds better to me, so I'll edit that sentence and publish the post again.

Then, I may think no, this is reads better, and again, the post will change. And so on, and so on, and so on. So far, I haven't completed a full circle and disappeared up my own mixed metaphor, but I suspect it's just a matter of time.

So far, so good...this has been an entirely positive experience. This isn't a challenge, folks, it's an invitation. We all have something share, something to teach, something to say. This is an easy way to begin. Don't worry about critics; mine have all been fair and helpful. You may have been one of them.

Don't be too concerned about any imperfections in your own views of the day. You can always edit your post as your perspective changes.

Remember, it's not carved in stone.