The Harrisons

My friend Collette makes a good point about the facade that is the blogging world, and got me thinking about why I blog what I blog and why I blog when I blog.

Typically I only blog about really cool stuff, like traveling to Europe and camping and a cute puppy.

But obviously that's not our -- that's not my --- entire life.

The other stuff, the stuff I usually don't blog about, the stuff that takes up the majority of our lives ---

isn't all fluff and cream and happiness.

It's also fighting with my husband about letting me put the tent up the way I want to, or playing the full game of Scrabble with me, or keeping Kaleo inside the tent with us, regardless of how bad he smells from all the puke that came up on the car ride to our camp spot.

It's also seriously considering, for awhile there, giving our dog back because he is

so much more work than we were originally anticipating.

What with that one time, only 2 weeks ago when he was "supposed" to be house-trained, and he started pooing on the carpet, so I ran and picked him up, told Adam to take him out the porch door, but he didn't make it in time and ended up pooing in my arms (the dog, not my husband),

 and of course the neighbor's 5 year old daughter is standing there, watching everything,

and I'm only in my underwear.

And we all know he has a serious carsickness issue that is completely incompatible with our lifestyle.

It's not getting up at 5am every stinkin' morning like I said I was going to, but maybe every other day and thinking,

"Hey, that's pretty dang good!"

It's also being mildly miserable while in Europe because I only have two shirts, two pairs of undies, one friend who is constantly texting her now-fiance when I haven't even emailed my husband in 7 days, let alone see him in 3 weeks, one dad and one brother who won't wait for me to go the bathroom or take a picture of another old church I'll probably never see again.

It's also getting the highest fever I can ever remember having the day before my nephew's funeral, and crying through his mother singing him his last lullaby before burying him, while having such a stuffy nose that I literally can.not. breathe fast enough to swallow so I'm choking and sobbing and wet and gooey and slimey with snot.

It's also being in a post-college slump/depression of wondering what I'm doing with my life and my English degree, and why I'm "wasting" it on a nanny job? And how about my own kids? Cuz watching other people's kids certainly isn't helping with that motivation.

When does the selfishness go away enough to throw them in the mix?

I feel like I'm pretty honest on my blog.

But sometimes when I do blog about crummy stuff

(like my nephew dying, or being scared to death about graduating college or being sick of Hawaii)

then I just feel totally and completely and utterly ungrateful and such a whiny butt.
And I figure nobody wants to read about the tough stuff anyway.

( In fact, I'm already starting to wonder if I should really post this, or just throw it out and figure I at least got the benefits of getting it out of my system.)

When I read whiny  honest blog posts, depending on how well it's "done"

I have one of two reactions:

Either I'm grateful I'm not the only one and that their life isn't as perfect as they make their blog seem,

or

I think, Oh please, you're just fishing for compliments

So what do we want to read about when we log onto other people's blogs?

What are we sincerely hoping to find there?

Good craft ideas?

Cute pregnant bellies that aren't ours?

Travel photos we didn't take?

Lives we don't lead, people we don't love, don't know?

That's what I look for sometimes, and I'm not really sure why or if I should be.
Though, most other times, I do enjoy blogs for the sake of keeping in touch with friends and family so far away.

But sometimes when I read an honest blog post, like Collette's,

I stop and think about my motives and what I'm actually getting out of this blogging thing.

Am I doing it for me?

If not, who am I doing it for?