The Real Me

I was talking to my husband last night and this blog came into conversation. When I first started this, I told no one. A few people know now, but they still have no idea what the address is or what I blog about. I can't really explain why. For me, this is a private journal. Then why am I doing this online you might ask? Because I always thought that one day I might be brave enough to share my thoughts with someone else. I love to read about how other people deal with life's issues. I'm always encouraged when I see that I'm not the only one struggling out here. I guess I'm hoping that one day, I might be able to encourage someone else.
This blog is not about current events or pop culture. I'm not a great comedian or great writer. I think I've been hesitant to share this with anyone because I'm afraid of what others might think. I want to connect with other people, but what if no one wants to hear what I have to say? Does everyone deal with this?
Hubby asked me, "What's the point of blogging if no one will read it?" And he has a very good point. After all, I could just write everything down in a real journal just for myself. But it keeps rolling through my head. One of the purposes of writing was supposed to be so that our family could stay caught up with us. It seems to be so much easier to read a blog or an email than to actually pick up the phone (for myself included). But instead of this blog being all about how our family is doing, it's turned into my sounding board and confessional. Who would be interested in that? Don't I gripe enough to everyone already?
But I decided to take a leap of faith and put this out there. When I started this, I didn't use anyone's real names. I chose the name Sally Slacker because that's just me. I feel like I slack off in most things. I'm kind of lazy in general. I chose Sally for several reasons. It's a tribute to my grandmother, it's a little plain like me, and it sounded good with slacker. I never used my kids' real names either. I figured they would already have plenty to tell their therapists when they're older, why add more fuel to the fire? But I've gone back and put everyone's real names in, including my own. I will let everyone know I'm blogging and go from there. If you know me at all, you know I'm long-winded. It's no different on my blog. I don't use shorthand. It would drive me crazy to see everything spelled wrong just for the sake of brevity. These are just the rantings of someone who is living life in the trenches.

***See future blog on Trees Are Wood--names have been changed again!***