Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Heart and Mind Online

We hadn’t seen each other for six years. It was a pleasure being in her company again. Such a feeling of being home when I was thousands of miles from my address. She cooked us a marvelous dinner with homemade coffee-flavored ice cream in my honor.

Then as my dear friend, her husband, left us to talk together. She caught me up on her life and her grandkids. She showed me their youngest daughter’s wedding album. We talked long about the jewelry she had made since the last time I saw her.

Then she said to me, “Do you have a journal?”

“Well, yes, actually. That would be my blog.”

I froze. I thought, Oh my god! Did I actually call my blog a journal?

For nearly two years, I’ve been saying to folks, “I’m going to write a book . . . to set the record straight.” The American title was going to be

If You Think my Blog Is a Journal, I Think Your Swimsuit Came from High School.

I had just called my blog a journal.

What’s happened to me?
I’m the one who, even at the age of 9, could not write in a diary. I didn’t want anyone ever to read what I thought. Not even after I was dead. I’m the one, who at 22, graded my personal poetry. I didn’t want someone to think I thought the bad ones were good.

Yet here I am now heart and mind standing naked online. I’m leaving words forever in a place that has no eraser. . . . and I’m even known for doing it.

I took out my iPhone and showed her around a few things I wrote. All she said was, “Don’t stop, please.”

I didn't.
--me liz strauss, letting me be

29 comments:

Jon Swanson said...

I'm with her. don't stop.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Jon,
thank you.

dsnake1 said...

i am glad i come to know about your blog too. enjoyed every post that you've shared with us. :)

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Aw Dsnake,
I look forward to your visits. I feel like I can hear you talking. :)

Bungz said...

Glad you found the blog-world and are choosing to stay...

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Glad we found each other. I'm the lucky one. :)

Pensativo said...

Yeah I am also with her..Don't stop please :)

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Pensativo!
I'm getting my fuel back again and I think I'll be here for the long haul. Thank you for your encouragement. :)

Dr.John said...

But you write such a good blog. Mostly A's.

Roberta S said...

Every visit to your blog is inspirational. I enjoy your reflections in a state of undress.
So please don't panic now and change into some kind of cover-up. Modest as I am, your nudity doesn't bother me a bit.

brad4d said...

What you share nourishes me!
Thanks Liz, Hi Roberta, great comment.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Dr. John!
It's always a pleasure to have to you stop by to listen in. Thank you.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Roberta!
Over the years, I've grown to so love the way you use words. Thank you for these most especially.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Brad!
In the blogosphere, we say that "givers get." I get so much from the folks who come here. I think I get as nurished as you do. :)

S L Cunningham said...

"If You Think my Blog Is a Journal, I Think Your Swimsuit Came from High School."

That would be a great title for a book. Actually got a chuckle out of that. It used to be the print medium was the only way writers could build and connect with an audience, but since the event of the "blog," that has changed. Newspapers, especially, are still a little too slow with grasping the significance of what has transpired during these past few years, and many are fast becoming irrelevant.
Anyway, didn't mean to go off on a tangent. It is good to see we are both getting our "fuel back" and I intend remain a frequent visitor.
As always,
Scot

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Yeah Scot!
It's a fun title and one that I said with great fervor at the time that I said it. :)

I'm a little less an evangelist these days. Now I realize that no matter what I write I'm writing a journal of my life. People just don't think some kinds of journals are useless. :)

Ameera said...

Hullo there! My first visit. My first read. I'll be staying a while, so dont stop just yet.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Ameera!
Wishing I had time to write as much as I used to.

I'll keep writing when I can. :)

Anonymous said...

I am so happy that you started in the first place and blessed that we "met" because of it. never stop. Please.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Easy!
My computer misbehaved when I came to leave a comment yesterday. I'd miss you too if I ever quit being here.

DTclarinet said...

Liz, you haven't changed a bit. In fact you've become more so than ever!

The feeling is mutual.

Love,
David

Moondreamer said...

Liz, please, please don't ever stop!

I'm so glad to have found you here, I knew I would enjoy this place ... another fantastic blog, thank you!

:o)

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Aw Garnet,
Why didn't I get notice that you were here! I think of you so often.

You're a friend of my heart.

LHG

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Moondreamer!
Welcome to what some call "Liz Unplugged."

Janus Torrell said...

Well you have a point about journals...if you don't want people to read your stuff after your gone a journal is a bad idea.

I can journal in a blog...I am too lazy to do a daily journal with paper anymore. Though I might get it back.

I hope I do, I miss it.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Janus,
I don't think I'll ever have the patience to journal on paper. Sometimes I write there, but journaling . . . no.

Anonymous said...

I think the hardest part of "publishing" online is hitting that oh, so evil "submit" button.
I remember way back in 2000 when I took an online writing course (F2K) and the first piece of writing I submitted was called "A little piece of my heart".
That's exactly what it was. It was in the opening up of my soul that I've been able to touch other people and it never ceases to amaze me the private emails I receive because of it.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
God, I've missed visiting you, Liz
~m

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Michael,
I'm learning a lot about my heart online as I approach this my third birthday here. One is that people who separate sometimes get back together.

It's wonderful to have you back!

DalDocW said...

I have just discovered this today, November 2, 2009. No entries since June. My God, why has this stopped? Its too important. It must continue.

Will