Hello, Blog World!

After much deliberation, I have decided to start this blog. The idea of having a personal blog both petrifies me and excites me. Petrify? Yes, petrify. Although the word is seemingly strong, my fear of having people read and dissect what I say has stopped me from blogging thus far. Now, I am probably getting ahead of myself here because I doubt that I have any readers, but that has been my concern. Furthermore, I am both a perfectionist and an English teacher, so the idea of fine tuning my words for others is daunting. My fears about blogging have kept me from writing: What if I make a grammar error? What if I don’t catch a typo? What if my words are misunderstood? What if I fail to have an intriguing voice? My hesitations have been many.

I haven’t written for fun in quite some time; I dabbled in Xanga in college, but that was mainly a way to have David learn more about me when we first started dating. I must admit that it was a bit hokey and I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that now, but it accomplished its purpose. I feel confident in my abilities to write a literary or rhetorical analysis, but personal writing is an area in which I do not feel completely comfortable.

Yet, I can no longer resist the appeal of blogging. I love the idea of sharing my ideas and perspectives with others. As a teacher, I was able to find an outlet for my thoughts in my students, but that chapter of my life has come to a close. Blogging has presented itself as a fun way for me to express myself. I also love the freedom of blogging. I can sit down and write about any idea at any time--whatever suits my fancy!

So, farewell to writing anxieties and simply creeping on other people’s blogs, and hello to overcoming fears and taking an active part in blogdom!