Censorship

I've been thinking a lot lately. Since last week's post, I've been thinking about my blog. I like writing in my blog. I like that my mom can keep tabs on my life, even though we're hundreds of miles apart. I like that my friends, as spread out as they are, can keep in touch with me with the occasional comment. My blog, while not overly personal, is still a personal thing. I haven't done any sort of marketing or advertising to spread my name around the internet, if only because I feel as if I haven't really done anything yet to deserve that. Someday, maybe, I'll use my blog as a professional communication venue. Until that time, however, it's just a personal blog. It's a Blogspot blog, for pete's sake! When I'm pseudo-famous enough to have a publicized blog, I'll shell out a couple of bucks for my own domain name. :)

In any case, I've been thinking, not only about the purpose of my blog, but about censorship. As a writer, the subject of censorship is a very sensitive one. I don't want anyone to tell me what I can or cannot write about. I spend my days working for other people, watching what I say, and how I act. When I write, I just want to write. I understand that, in some cases, it's necessary to have at least a modicum of censorship; as I mentioned, my mom reads my blog, so my posts always keep that in mind. Believe me, there are things that my mom doesn't want to know - I've watched her stick her fingers in her ears and say "LALALALALALA!" when a conversation takes a turn towards uncomfortable topics. (Sorry, Mom, but you're a great example here!) In that way, I censor myself. I went back to a post I wrote last week and deleted a sentence that was just tempting fate - I should know better than to brag about work that's not even done. In that way, I censor myself. More than once, I've got back and edited a post that was written in anger because I had time to cool down and think things through. In that way, I censor myself.

There's a difference, though, between censoring what I say because of who my intended audience is and censoring myself because of people who may venture past my blog out of the blue. I write towards my intended audience, or for myself. I don't write for EVERYONE. There is no way to be able to please everyone, and I've learned that the hard way. Believe me, it's not even worth it to try.

I went back and looked at the blog entry that's caused the kafuffle (yes, kafuffle - I like that word). For a few moments, I considered simply deleting it and removing the source of conflict, because I don't like conflict. Then I thought about it some more. The post was, in itself, not offensive. It, like many of my posts here, was about writing. I'm a writer, whether I'm published yet or not, and I like to think about my craft. I decided to leave it up, because it is not my responsibility to make everyone happy. If you make the choice to read my personal blog, you're going to have to deal with the fact that you're reading my personal opinions. If you are unhappy with anything that you see here, I am sorry that I couldn't please you. Perhaps some of the blogs I follow, listed in the right-hand sidebar, might be more to your liking. If you choose to never visit my blog again, I won't be upset. I probably won't ever know.