The blogger and the bartender.

So I'm at a well known bar in the city with Hepo. and we're talking to one of the bartenders that we know. I might add at this point (as I'm sure you all know), that she is very attractive. We'll call her KJ from here on in. So we're discussing blogs and journals and what they are. She asked the question on whether or not people are honest with blogs. Interesting question.

My answer was instinctive, "Where there is anonymity, people are usually brutally honest." I think people hide who they really are when they're around other people for many reasons not the least of them is "insecurity."

By insecurity I mean, "lacking self-confidence and having anxiety." We're all so worried about what other people think of us. How do I look? What do I say? These are all questions we ask of ourselves because we want to be perceived a certain way by others. Usually we all wear some form of mask. Be it bravado or shyness, we hide behind these things because it is comfortable, it is our place of safety. "If people knew what I was really like..." A fear that haunts many of us.

What I've found though in reading blogs, I read many of them, I currently have two of my own. I've found that sometimes people are on the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of honesty. They go for shock value. Certainly when I started this blog, I tended (still do), to write stuff that's over the top. Perhaps these are things I wish I could say if there were no societal rules or expectations.

This being the case, is this an accurate picture of these individuals? Any more so than the masks we hide behind when we meet other people in public? I still get along with my co-workers and while sometimes their stories are dreadfully boring, I'm sure mine are as well. I'm this blog is a testament to that! (insecurity?) :)

So, maybe a blog allows us to say the things that we wouldn't normally say to people's faces and it may go to extreme. Perhaps we can learn from this medium. Putting one's thoughts down on paper (albeit virtual), allows us to reflect on what we have stated. Also the act of writing down one's thoughts forces us to organize and express them in ways that speaking doesn't. We are usually lazy when we speak, we just start talking and hope that at some point, the point comes out. Ultimately each post is a reminder, a signpost of sorts, of how we are feeling and what we are thinking at the time. Maybe the act of posting changes us.

Ok, enough shit for now, its starting to make my office stink. So welcome to the blog world KJ (barter girl for those of you with A.D.D.). Its addictive.