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Saturday 7 May 2011

Peering Through The Fence

I don't know about you, but when I fist began visiting the Blog World I had absolutely no idea what was really going on?!! I was like a little girl peering through the fence,
trying to grasp something that I couldn't quite conceptualize or particularly understand.
farm5static flickr
I was intrigued & curious..
state library New South Wales via beauty in everything
and soon drawn into the magic world of beauty in everything (go on, have look at this page, but come right back!), knowledge, discovery & inspiration in a way that I had never encountered in my life before.
via beauty in everything: http://feuille.blogg.se/
 I discovered a realm where the gentle arts were being honoured, fostered & shared.
Gary Melchers Woman sewing
Encountering the gracious ways of a past age where, manners & kindness prevailed, replenished the hope in me that the world was indeed a good place to be & best of all, there was so much more to discover, unveil & reveal.
Unveiling, emal.com
It's taken me 15 months or so to really get the hang of many of the complexities of blogging. Now I understand better the conversational aspects, the ways in which friendship can burgeon & flourish. In the early months I was really glad to come across a post that Floss wrote entitled "What is blogging all about". I was so grateful to her for giving me an overview & some helpful tips at that time. Later, Angela of Tracing Rainbows wrote a post during our Wind in the Willows week: Which WITW character are you? describing the characters in the delightful story & relating them to blogging styles & our various motivations & approaches. I found this post really helpful too. Angela reminded me that we are all so different & that we each have our own unique personal style & motivation.
In this past fornight, dear Anne of Ungardened Moments wrote some important & eloquent reflections about what blogging has come to mean to her. It's such a peculiar feeling when someone else expresses the very things that have been on your mind. It's all about..."belonging & having a voice & being heard".
Then, right on the heels of Anne's post came along one by Megan over at Shabby Blogs "Say no to blog envy". Brilliantly written from a place of personal success, experience & generosity. Such a helpful read for any blogger, the principles applicable to all of life...it's just one community or another.
  Which rather brings me to the concept quite often expressed by many bloggers that there is blogging & then there is real life. That is a little like the debate over the printed word & books
via weheartit
 versus the online cyber version & kindle, the printed photo versus the digital image, faith or religion versus science. Sometimes we just need to enlarge our view or allow it be altered just a little.
Actually, I came across this quote on Facebook today & although it's rather serious it is also apt.

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is a proof against all argument, & which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-the principle of condemnation before investigation"- Herbert Spencer
via tumblr
 Sure we need to keep tabs on our balance & make sure that we're not neglecting those that we love but for me my blogging expression is now pretty much indivisible from my real life. Blogging & the internet have given me a space to thrive, true freedom & wings to fly ..
  to be fully me without fear or shame. No more "carpets made of eggshells" in my house. I am not seen, yet I am no longer invisible. I am not heard, yet at last I have a voice. Finally I have license to exist. My lifetime struggle...living the reality of familial invisibility, no longer binds me. And, as I write, I leave a trail, a legacy. I shine a light on the path..at last I can glow. Because of blogging, my life is richer, fuller, deeper & I now have skills that I could never have once imagined would be mine.
One of the surprises for me in this journey, is finding myself opening up to new concepts & knowledge of topics that I had previously thought that I had no interest in, for instance (just a little), art history. It's About Time has been an enlightening find. I shall be returning here to learn more. One fascinating quote I found there I wanted to share with you:
"Why blog?" on making art & history available to all
 "Traditionally art history has been inherently elitist, both socially & intellectually. Art tended to be commissioned by the upper classes. Connoisseurship was seen as a superior refined skill & the products of art-historical scholarship were guarded almost as fiercely as the art itself"
 quote from the blog "Treasure Hunt" of the National Trust in the UK written by Emily De Bruijn.

The gate is open..
no longer is the road closed to woman 
we now have access to music, art, instruction & knowledge & a vehicle for self expression (even to make a living) that can take us places we have never dreamed possible before. In the words of Dr Seuss (thanks Alisa)
Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to great places, you're off & away. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose...
..the path is right there waiting,
at least for those of us privileged to own a computer (only 1 in 100 people do in the world) & I once read that 80 percent of blogs fold in the first month!
via beauty in everything
 I love the words of Jo Hamilton's song,
 "There it is"
Climbing in to the future
leaving a wake of life
fresh ideas for the picking
throw the messes behind
and there it is..a world of hope
make a way through the undergrowth
...intriguing adventures all around
leaving the road slightly unmapped
focussed, but not too tight..

I think that I might write some more along these lines. But then again I may not..isn't it so nice to be able to chose!
Thank you my sweet readers, bloggers & visitors. 
I hope that you enter this week with a song in your heart & a dance in your feet.
MUCH
 ♥♥♥♥♥

8 comments:

  1. Once again a lovely and insightful post Catherine, Some wonderful and thoughtful links/blogs to go and read. Thank you.

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  2. Hi Catherine,
    How lovely it is to read what blogging means to you. How it has helped and allowed you to experience things you may never have experienced if not for blogging.
    The sharing, the community, the learning is all good!
    I can sense the confidence in yourself is soaring. :) It's beautiful to see.
    Have a lovely evening,
    Anne xx

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  3. Well said! I love blogs for all the same reasons. I so enjoy reading the thoughts, insights, and appreciation I find and I'm so thankful for all the writers. I'm thankful for YOU!

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  4. Exactly the right reasons for blogging and they are my motives too - I really enjoy your posts and find all the people I follow inspire me to be creative, try out new ways of creating and share my successes. So glad to have discovered blogland. Bettyx

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  5. "you have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself in any direction you choose" - I love this description to children and adults alike, as we can do and be anything and everything we want to. Because doing and being, as you are, however that may look is entirely defined by self expression. If it makes you happy then be happy in doing it. Happy mothers my young mother, I love that your happy being you. With love, your son.

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  6. This is a really great, interesting post - so much to think about - I am going to come back to this and follow all the links. And I feel quite empowered! I had always thought of it as a bit of an eccentric indulgence, but I think that I am moving into the field of self-expression ...

    Pomona x

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  7. Wow, how lovely to find that I have been helpful to you, along with such august company! There are so many more interesting links that you've given here too - I shall have to come back and start visiting. I have been having some very similar thoughts to you and really have found blogging to be the gateway to a much more thoughtful, aware, authentic me - so I really do see what you mean. Thanks very much for putting it all into words. Now - off to do the housework!

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  8. This is a post I will bookmark and return to. I will follow the links and be inspired.

    How could I have missed WITW week?
    Perhaps I was still down some rabbit hole...

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So lovely of you to leave a comment. Thank you!! So sorry if you've tried to leave one & it hasn't worked. You are welcome to email me at catherine@sunshinevintage.nz instead, if you'd like to, much love Catherine♥

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