Friday, December 5, 2008

Who was I kidding?

Three or four or five months ago, I purged my Google Reader. I was in one of those places I sometimes get into where I felt pathetic for reading celebrity gossip, daily accounts of people’s lives (people whom I’ve never met), and only occasional real news (at least about the election).

So I axed all of the personal blogs, the Perez Hilton, the Ecorazzi, etc. To fill the void I added in more green news, more election news, an indie craft blog, and some feeds that I thought might be more spiritually enlightening. At first it was refreshing. It forced me to sharpen my focus on issues I cared about. I convinced myself it was some kind of Reader intentional meditation.

But as time passed I found myself scrolling through these new feeds as quickly as I possibly could. I would never really read them. I’d sometimes look at the pictures. I didn’t want to hear about someone’s two hour a day yoga practice anymore. And just when I thought there couldn’t possibly be another post about green office furniture, there it was!

I started sneaking back to my old blogs, guiltily, in elaborate covert operations. Just one peek to catch up, I’d say, knowing full well I’d be delving deep into the archives. But I wouldn’t let myself enjoy it.

This week I finally gave in, I added back the personal blogs I missed plus a few others I discovered. What I came to realize is that in days filled with polite, superficial conversation, it’s invaluable to have access to a few people’s honest thoughts. So what if these people aren’t my friends or I haven’t known them for years? I think that only underscores the fact that there are these universal issues we all deal with, and it feels so nice to know you’re not alone.

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