Blogging Relationships; Jenners Guest Posts

I am excited to introduce you to Jenners!
She writes/blogs/dreams over at: Life With A Little One And More and she shares on Her Book Blog as well!

I only recently 'met' Ms. Jenners, and you know how simply reading a comment from someone tells you more about that person than looking inside their medicine cabinet? That's how I felt about her. I clicked over to her blog and SO was not disappointed! See her 100 list (you know how they can be long and boring and...long..well I loved her's so much I stumbled it!) Now please read this post and go comment on HER blog!
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When Carissa asked me to write about blogging relationships, I wasn't really sure what to think. But once I started considering the subject, I realized that blogging has brought me a wide variety of invaluable relationships that have enhanced my life in ways I never anticipated when I started blogging six months ago.

Since I started blogging, I think I've located about 15 "separated-at-birth" sisters. Amazingly, some were born almost 25 years after my birth! Now... either my parents have kept some major secrets from me for years, or blogging has allowed me to connect with women with whom I feel such an amazing kinship that they fill the space in my life where I had always wished a sister would be. (And yes, I am aware that is an amazingly awkward sentence. Sorry.) For the record, I have two "real-life" brothers. And although I have nothing against them, I've always longed for a sister. The instant closeness that I've felt with these women has amazed me. Although we've never met in real life, I feel a definite connection to them. We seem to share a similar worldview, sense of humor and values -- almost as if we were raised in the same household!

• Being a mom, it has been wonderful to find fellow moms who have the same doubts, fears, struggles and problems that I have encountered. I'm not the only mom who doubts whether her kid is eating healthy enough! I'm not the only mom who feels like an outcast at the playground! I'm not the only mom who hides out from her kid in the bathroom and reads magazines! Blogging has helped me realize that my experiences as a mom are not unique but universal -- and nothing could be more comforting.
  
  
• Being a reader who is married to a non-reader, blogging has connected me with people who are as excited about books as I am. The quality of my reading has increased dramatically since I started blogging, and I credit my fellow "book bloggers" for this increase in quality. When it was just me picking my books, I often had a lot of "loser" books. Now, I'm being exposed to a wider variety of books -- ones I'm sure I would have never come across if it wasn't for blogging. And best of all, I can write about my lridiculous love of Edward in the Twilight books, and I know I'm not alone!
  
  
• Being a wanna be writer, blogging has helped me find a supportive community of like-minded people who inspire me to keep writing. Their positive feedback helps me overcome my doubts and fears of writing and keeps me going when I'm tired or uninspired. Participating in Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop has been such a positive experience for me. It has challenged me and made me write in new ways. It has boosted my confidence in my own writing abilities and given me an incredible supportive community. There is nothing like blogging to get instant feedback on your writing. And there is nothing like writing on a regular basis to help you hone your skills. When I first started blogging, I used to struggle for hours to find the words I wanted. But now that I've been writing 3 or 4 posts a week, the writing is coming more naturally and feels more normal. And I feel like I'm finding my voice as a writer as my blog has developed over the months.
  
  
• Being a lifelong nerd, blogging has provided me with a social outlet that is based more on my personality and internal qualities rather than my external, physical qualities. I love that you don't have to show your face to be a blogger -- some of my favorite bloggers have faces that are unknown to me and that is OK because I feel I know their "insides," which counts more than outward appearances. Blogging allows you to focus on WHO a person is rather than what they look like. And for me -- a socially awkward, relatively unattractive person -- this is a real boon. I can't even tell you how much my self-esteem has been boosted since I started blogging!
  
  
• Blogging makes me appreciate all the good things I have in life. I've come across some amazing, sad, tragic and horrible stories since I started blogging. I feel so much empathy for these bloggers who are going on in life despite such obstacles and tragedies. It makes me believe in people, realize how lucky I am and how life can change in an instant. So many times I've felt "There but for the grace of God go I." I've had my fair share of difficulties in life and struggled to get to the place where I am now, but reading about the lives of other bloggers who are facing seemingly insurmountable heartache and pain make me appreciate my life and not take it for granted. And when some bloggers disappear from blogland with no explanations, I worry about them. I hope they are OK. And I wish them the best the universe can give them because they have touched me.

In short, I've found so much more from blogging than I ever expected. Although my husband scoffs at me sometimes ("You don't even KNOW these people," he says), I beg to differ with him. I feel you can get to know a person intimately via blogging -- perhaps more intimately than their own "real life" friends. It is kind of like the classic relationship with a bartender -- you can open up about your true feelings because you know you don't have to see them again or face them the next day. Blogging gives you that "safe" place where you can reveal as much or as little as you want about yourself and your life. You can be a wide open book or hide behind anonymity while your secret self tells your innermost feelings. Although my own blog tends to be on the more light-hearted and "shallow" side, I have opened myself up to other bloggers in ways I didn't expect. When a blogging friend wrote about postpartum depression, I felt comfortable sharing my own experiences with her. When a blogger talked about divorce, I shared some of what I experienced during my own divorce. When a blogger wrote about financial hardship, I shared some of the issues I had in the past. As much as you want it to be, blogging is a two-way street, which makes it incredibly rewarding and personal. So thank you, blogging world. You've enriched my life in ways I never anticipated, and I hope I've brought some of the same to your lives. Long live the blog!


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And long live comments! Time to head over and tell Jenners hi from all the GoodNCrazy readers, thanks everyone! Talk about someone I would oh so love to meet in person!

I linked this up at Tuesday Tribute's New home.