Saturday, January 13, 2007

2017

I just wrote a very personal post and did not hit the publish button. I have edited it and reread it. I asked myself if I felt better after writing it, and in some ways I do, in some ways it is just an outlet for my frustrations about a certain situation that will not change as long as I do not change.

At various times I have published when I am in the heat of the moment, the center of the vortex, riding high on raw emotion. And a time or two, my butt has born the brunt of those posts.

Recently, while blog surfing, I read an interesting question. It went something like this,".........if what you are publishing on your blogs is not interesting now, why should it be interesting in 2017?"

And I thought, this is a blog for me! Of course when I look back 10 years from now it will be very interesting to me. It is a blog for me!! For God's sake.

AOL did not allow for a draft key. I love it. It gives me time to think, "Okay that post is for me....do I really want to send it out there into the Blogosphere for the entire world? Or my family, Joe's family? Hell, no. I applaud the draft button.

Getting back to the 2017 statement. I have written diaries and journals since I was in grammar school. Sometime in the late 1970's I burned them all, except one.

That one is from my early high school days and I love it.


The pages are old and the pictures I cut out from magazines and the newspapers are faded and the scotch tape is brittle. The hand writing is foreign, is that really me? The things I deemed important enough to write about are wonderful journeys back to the young person I once was.

I like her a lot. And yes, she is interesting 40 years later!

August 1968.

"Albert came up to me before we danced to ask me to dance. I was a little afraid because I really don't know how to dance. Anyway, after a little while Kev says, "Here comes Albert" and I said "Where is he?" and Kev says "Right beside you!" And Albert said "Come on Mary, teach me how to dance." Ha! We stepped on each others feet all through the slow dance. He had had a lot to drink. He told me that he and Father Sullivan had split a bottle of champagne between them!"

Gotta love those Italian-Irish weddings!

11 comments:

Tongue in Cheek Antiques said...

Right on Sister! Blogging can and is for the person who is behind the keyboard tapping hte keys! And often looking back is the best part!

1968 that says it all, and I am glad you have a daily record of those moments!

Paul is a Hermit said...

It's nice to look back, curious, I am the opposite and didn't like myself much then, if you saw the picture, you'd know why.

So, what happened to Albert? How far into the future did he go?
You burnt the others, do you regret it? I destroyed most of my pictures. I do regret.

meno said...

"He told me that he and Father Sullivan had split a bottle of champagne between them!"

Oh that's too funny!

I have a post that i wrote at least 6 months ago. I still haven't published it. Guess i'm not ready.

Anonymous said...

I wish I had saved my journals from my younger days, I think they would be interesting. Looking back through the eyes of our youth.

Monica

Owen said...

Hello Hippy Gypsy,
Reading your post reminds me of that scene in Amelie, when she discovers the tin with the boys treasured possessions hidden in the wall and returns it to him. It's as if these 'things' open a portal back to the person we were. Someone who can seem like a total stranger to us now, but with whom we have an unquestionably intimate bond, such that we suffer with them, when they are feeling pain, and revel with them in their joys.

Anonymous said...

It's wonderful that you like who you were and who you are

And I would give anything to have a journal of my life before blogging--1968 would be a perfect year

Thanks much for commenting on my blog. I will be back

Lippy said...

It's so much fun when I find the occasional note or card that I find from my past, and having a blog now is a good way to assure I don't make the mistake of having not kept anything like a diary when I was younger.
I hope you find your stuff as interesting in 2017 as you do now.

AC said...

I have several posts hidden in the draft form, still seething. I am not sure why I just don't delete them.

I have a photograph of my high school senior (1972) reception (we weren't allowed to call them dances, even though there was music and dancing!) My best friend took me wearing a purple velvet tuxedo. I adored him but he was about 6 inches shorter than I which bothered him no end. For the not-dance, he also wore elevator shoes, a booster, but not enough to change the temperature of the date.

The funny thing is that I ran into his mother in my home town maybe 15 years ago. She told me he kept that same photograph on his dresser at home for years and said to her once, " I wonder if she's still interesting and that tall".

I didn't like high school, and by extension, thought the problem was with me. Looking back on some of the things I saved, I found myself way more interesting than I thought then. That's a neat realization, even if it is 35+ years later.

To ramble to the point, I agree, it is a blog for you.

Lisa :-] said...

The stuff I write for myself will always be interesting to me...tomorrow, a year from now, ten years from now.

The stuff I write for an audience...might have some historical significance in ten years. I don't care. I like it anyway. And I don't agonize too much over pushing the "save" button. My writing is nothing if not totally honest. Maybe too much so.

Simona said...

Hi!! Beautiful blog!!...Let's come and see mine: http://lasoffittadelleidee.blogspot.com/
and don't forget to leave a little comment for me while you are there!
Bye!

Robbie said...

This guy's diary is on the web almost 400 years since he wrote it originally. He talks about some of the most mundane things but yet it is interesting because it gives the reader a view into a life that long ago.

http://www.pepysdiary.com/

I think sometimes the desire to make it interesting for others hinders me in my writing. But, I agree, any bit is a record of who we are and years later is a testament of that time.

To sum it up: Screw the 2017 critic. Keep writing! I love the draft button too for when I run out of time but unfortunately some public posts get lost there for too long.

P.S. I hope you have a safe trip!!