John Taylor wonders what would happen if the whole world started to live out loud.
For me, writing is therapy. There is something to be gained from being able to see my emotions in black and white in front of me. There are times I will sit down to write, and look only at the keyboard while I compose a post or creative piece. Only when I am finished thinking do I look up and see what it is I have written. Without critiquing myself, or judging myself in the process, I can tap out everything I think and feel, then look up, and really take a look at myself.
It is also very healing and uplifting to be able to come to the blog, and write about things that I just cannot seem to spit out at any other time, or during any other discussion. There are those things that I think, that I feel, that I just have no way to overcome the hurdle that prevents me from just shouting it out, or saying it when I want to. When this is the case, I fire up the laptop, I open up a new post, and I type at breakneck speeds to try to keep up with my thoughts. This is usually how most of my creative pieces or more personal pieces are created.
All that being said, let me also say this: It’s not always so easy to put things out there like that. Once it is there, it is there. Once you say something in front of the world, you can no longer run from it. The only option is to face it, and make your move. This is a topic for many bloggers—the question of what you should and should not post online. And I have been on both sides of the argument and have posted things in the past that maybe I shouldn’t. I have since learned, and now I have a new use for not holding back on certain things:
*Accountability and Friendship*
Being open online leaves you open to a wide range of criticism and in some cases, anger or hatred. When you hit the publish button, when you click the Tweet button, or whatever button it is you choose, that’s it. There is no taking it back.Yes you can delete something, but there is always a record held somewhere online. When the words are of hatred, anger, or damaging to someone else’s person, this is not a good thing. It can be a dangerous area to tread in.
This knowledge can also be a powerful tool for us personally. Online relationships can be very powerful allies. In fact, I met my wife online in a Yahoo! chat room back in 2005. There are many people I have met online that I will probably never meet in real life. But I do not hesitate to call them friends. These are people that have reached out to me beyond a simple tweet or Facebook message. They have picked up their phones and given me a ring, they have sent me actual mail, or have taken the time to simply listen to me ramble on about my problems. Through what I choose to share online, people can get to know who I really am in a way they wouldn’t otherwise. This also creates accountability in that these same people will continuously keep contact with me, see how things are going, and offer support when it is needed.
*Freedom and Enlightenment*
Writing is free. Writing is powerful. Words are magic. Words are tragic. There are times when the block in my mind prevents me from saying what I should be saying, when I should be saying it. There is the block that tells me “You’re okay” when I am truly not, and keeps me from facing the things I need to, and seeking the guidance and wisdom I need. But then there are the times where I sit down without a block, without hesitance, and I just write. I think, I write, I even speak it out loud to myself while I write. I have even gone as far as stopping what I am doing, grabbing a pillow, and just screaming at the top of my lungs into it.
There are times when, in the middle of typing, I will just stop, because there is no reason to write anymore. I could not count the posts and pieces that I have trashed just because of the realizations and enlightenment that have come to me in the course of writing it all out. There comes that point, during, or after posting, that while I read what I have written and read the responses and reactions, I see what it is I needed to. I hear what it is I have been trying to tell myself, or tell others. Armed with these new thoughts, I face what I need to face, and progress is born.
I think the idea of “letting it out” has completely lost its meaning in this age. Emotion is not considered real enough, feelings are not real enough to be hurt, and people are just not real enough with each other to seem to matter. What if the world would learn to live out loud? What if people decided that emotion, feeling, and others, are indeed, real enough to matter? What if the world found out that in reality, we are never as alone as we think, we are never as far apart as we think, and we are not as different as we think?
I live now on a theory that thinking out loud, whether talking it, or writing it, living out loud, cannot be as harmful as the world makes it seem. I live on the theory that there is absolutely nothing wrong with not being okay, and being able to admit it. The world is out there. The world we want does exist. It exists in other people who think like us, feel like us, and know what we know. That importance to the online world, is an importance that should not be forgotten, and never be taken for granted.
This post originally appeared at The Daddy Yo Dude
Photo courtesy of Mad Wraith
Great post.
I Always thought that each one’s personal story would relate to someone if they would just hear about it. Like a teacher would say “If you have a question, chances are 4-5 other people have the same question but are to afraid to ask it.” We all can help each other in situations that’s what is great about goodmenproject!
God bless!
I can very much relate to this article 🙂
Hi DYD. Your self-esteem must be 100% recommended dose.
I wrote an LJ blog for years, to communicate with my friends who were also on LJ. I gave up after a long struggle with the process, because none of my friends read or responded. I’m still not sure what lesson lay there, but sometimes I do miss that process of reflection.
Thanks for sharing!
Why hello Kitty! If my self esteem was that high, I probably wouldn’t be writing haha! I write some posts on my blog that see 600+ views, others that are lucky to even see 100. To me, it doesn’t matter how many people read it, or how many comments I receive. 70% of my blogging is done for myself. When I know that it is there, black and white, for the world to see, it forces me to step up to the plate, and take a swing. One day my name will just fade away in the vast workings of… Read more »
If the whole world lives out loud, does the whole world have to listen?
Actually, I’ll be busy that day, so it will have to go on without me.
If I go outside and scream right now, only 3 people will actually hear me. None of them will listen. Will that bother me? No. Because I don’t do it for them. I do it for me. If I’m the only one that gained anything from it, then something has still been gained, and nothing lost.