There is nothing more frustrating for me than knowing that I have not submitted an entry on this blog in a while. I would like to be someone who writes more often, but I feel there are a couple of concerns that prohibit me from sharing what’s on my mind. “Is this really worth publishing?” that one comes to mind more times than not when it comes to all social media and online publishing forums. For some reason I have this built-in mechanism in my brain that whispers that not all thoughts are worth sharing. So I begin to edit in my mind the original thought to the point that idea dies never making it to print. I suppose this is a good thing, because I can’t count the number of times that, after I thought it through a little more, I either end up disagreeing with my original idea or I realize that despite my best attempts to author something that is meant as playful and not intended to offend anyone it will and ultimately is not worth saying at all.
I grew up being taught that “silence is golden” and to be careful with my words as they can create life or destroy depending on how I use them. However, silence is the enemy of blogs. The longer there is nothing new on your blog the greater the chance that people will stop reading. Sometimes, I envy those who liberate their creative sides and write with such freedom that is honest and artful. Yet, I wonder how one earns the right to be allowed the freedom to write like this and be received that way by those who read it. I don’t think it happens immediately or for everyone.
What risk is there in turning off my personal filter, the one that instructs me to cease the creative process and wait for something else to say on another day? Simply put I don’t want this blog to be like the numerous accounts on social media sites that have zero personal filter. They live in a world of Too Much Information and their entire lives are displayed for the world to see.
I don’t think this healthy, not just for me, but for anyone. How does one rein it in after they have untethered the horses? In other words, once we start sharing EVERTHING we can become addicted to it. It starts off as a little adrenaline rush. After awhile the little bit of sharing has to grow to more to achieve that feeling. Eventually the only way to generate that feeling is to try to wrangle up more “followers” who are in some cases only seeking to gain more followers themselves (especially those of us who use the internet as a means of generating cash flow per click on our sites). When does it end? How does it end? Most importantly how does this benefit us in the end?
Was it worth the shame? When the high fades (and it will) what next? Does it offend you when people trash you in the comment threads? Are you looking for something real?
We have to start changing the way we approach our online communities. We would help ourselves by scaling back our “brutal honesty.”
Some of us online are not the same as we appear in “the real world,” but there is a warning that Jesus had for this that we would do well to heed.
In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Whatever we post, no matter how cryptic the username we are only fooling ourselves if we think that we are “just playing and not meaning any of it.” Anything written online is a reflection of at least a part of who we really are on the inside.
We can do better. We can control ourselves while remaining creative and artistic. It is not just for the benefit of the global community, but ours as well.
Be the change you want to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi
Rev. Shawn J. Smith 