Through a Glass and Bloggy...

    I've been thinking a lot lately about words, Blogs, and the human condition. (How's THAT for a combo?) .

    Basically, (and by no means correctly, I'm sure) I've always viewed Blogs - here and anywhere else - as "cyberspace diaries" which pretty much serve us as the old-fashioned, written diaries used to do. They amount to conversations with one's own soul; often serving as a "release valve" for questions and life issues that any given Blogger is grappling with, clueless about, seeking to find the meaning for, believes they've found an answer to, or is otherwise impacted or impressed by... for any of a variety of reasons.

    I look upon the choice of a Blogger to allow others passage into their Blogs as an invitation... one which, when you stop to contemplate it, is supremely intimate, and by its very nature something to be appreciated and treated as the honor it truly is. Like being welcomed into someone else's home, our journals and Blogs, when left open to the public to read, amount to welcoming them into something humans tend to hold even more closely to the vest - our inner beings, deepest thoughts, interactions, ideas, and questions... and where we are, at any particular point in time, in sorting them all out.

    Words were meant to serve us a palette for "painting" the colors of life - in every hue we choose and/or need to express. Though they often are, I don't believe words were ever intended to be weapons. To spiritedly debate, exchange thoughts and ideas, share laughter and tears, and exercise the mind - all of these and more, to my way of thinking, are what open Blogs are all about. And when I read those of others, it is much, for me, like visiting their homes... actually, even more of a privilege, because the Blog I'm visiting constitutes an invitation into the Bogger's life. I may not be able to understand or agree with a particular offering a Blogger makes... but I always immensely appreciate the fact that they accorded me the privilege of the visit - and the consummate honor of their trust and honesty. For what could be more courageous than unmasking who we truly are and/or forthrightly discussing the things in our lives that, at any given moment, happen to hold meaning for us in our earthly journey?

    Blog entries are the online equivalent of passing moments - snapshots, if you will - in life's timespan. They may pass quickly and be forgotten with the next day's dawn... or they may reflect circumstances, thoughts, and/or feelings far more omnipresent in our existence for a plethora of reasons. Whatever the case may be... they represent an individual's openness to others - and in that, a measure of vulnerability as well. For that reason, regardless of whether I happen to agree or disagree with any portion of the content, I also consider being granted the opportunity to read and reflect upon other's thoughts and feelings a privilege never meant to be lightly taken, utilized as a weapon, or in any way abused.

    That's my Blog story... and I'm sticking to it.