The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~ Anaïs Nin

It takes a thick skin to blog.  I know this blog is new and I'm kind of a hit-and-miss writer on it as I'm in the 'baby stages' of creating it, but prior to this blog I had one I'd written on since 2005 and I wrote thousands of entries about thousands of things.  It served its purpose as a 'journal' of my two grandsons' babyhood and toddler-hood as well as a place I could come to just unload about anything that was on my mind.  I finally put it to rest recently and after doing a major paring-down edit, I had about 245 pages printed up to make individual books of it for myself and both boys.  They're now tucked safely away in a box on a shelf in the closet where they'll stay until the boys graduate from high school.

This blog...well, I'm still trying to figure out where I'm heading with it.  Probably on the Road to Nowhere.  I guess when I get to the fork in the road I'll take it and find out then.  Though it has no real purpose, not really.  Just a different place to come to when I'm feeling the urge to put my words on paper...well, on a screen anyway.  I am much, much better at 'talking' on a screen than I am talking face to face.  No comparison.

Back to thick skin, where I started before meandering off on to other things.  Early on in blogging I had an anonymous person leave a comment that has stuck with me ever since and I don't think I ever will truly recover from it, ha!  This person wrote:  "Who are you to think anyone wants to read about your boring and paltry life?"  I have absolutely no idea who left that comment but when I first read it I was so devastated I almost quit blogging.  No matter what kind of writing a person does, we are plagued with self-doubts and second-guesses every time we sit down and start typing. When someone says something like that about our thoughts and our feelings, it's like they're attacking us.  At least, that's the way I feel.  But I'm glad it happened early on in my writing, because it was a good life lesson.  It taught me to keep on keeping on and not let one person's negative opinion rob me of the joy of writing.

Blog writers aren't looking for critiques.  At least I'm not.  My goal is to have people read what I say and come away from it thinking, "I know exactly what she's talking about.  I can relate to that in my own life...my own thoughts." To have people leave comments that show me I've connected on a deeper level, not just scratching the surface like we do in most of our encounters.  I'm not out to make a difference or to change the world.  I'm not out to cause disruption and antagonism.  I'm just here, a 63 year old grandma and mature woman, telling you what's on my mind and in my heart.  If you don't like what I say, move on.  Take the other fork in the road.  If you do like it, please visit anytime. I'll probably still be here, still meandering.  Still finding my way.