I deleted my last post because it felt too braggy. I really have issues putting stuff out there like that. My mom wants me to post my artwork on facebook for my grandpa to see, but I pretty much
hate that idea. A friend of mine likens this to the whole "pretty cupcake" phenomenon. That is, you get those people on facebook (mainly females) who constantly post pictures of the dinner they made, or the pretty cupcakes they created, or whatever. Inherently there's nothing wrong with this. I remember sending a picture to my husband of an over-easy egg I had cooked, just because I was so damn proud that the yolk was still intact. But when you do this ALL the time; constantly bringing attention to your piddly little accomplishments, it gets to be a little egocentric. And boring. I once created a page on facebook called "I don't care what you ate for dinner!" simply because I was so tired of seeing the barrage of pretty casseroles and perfect homemade pizzas. I felt like saying, "Look, I'm glad you're nourishing your family with your stellar cooking skills, but your other 247 friends really don't give a crap that you made something 'yummylicious'. They're only pressing the 'like' button out of pity." Unfortunately that made for a long page title.
What was I talking about again? Oh yeah, artwork. I don't want the few amateur paintings I have created to become the proverbial pretty cupcakes, hence the reason I keep them off of facebook. I don't need a bunch of comments on the stuff I paint; I just want to paint in peace and post my work on my little art blog that no one knows exists. I might someday put them on FB for the sake of family, but if I do, I will just quietly create the album and leave it at that (no "sharing," no posting to my wall, etc.). For now, if Grandpa wants to see my paintings, he'll have to settle for an e-mail attachment.
P.S. I take it all back...if I had actually created the cupcakes shown in the above-photo, I would be posting it all over my wall! ;-)
I agree with you in some ways, Jodi. Now, I have the opposite concerns. I tend to write too seriously and a lot comes out about my problems, issues, or whatever. No one really wants to read or hear all that either. The difference for me, however, is that I don't expect to have a lot of readers. I really write for therapy or for a very small audience. I used to want to widen that, but now I see it's probably best that I leave it as is.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, you'll notice that I stay off FB for awhile too. That's usually for the same reason -no one really wants to read too many sad or very serious posts. (I've been like that for a couple of days, unfortunately. Time to take a break again.)
By the way, I didn't feel your last post was too braggy. I enjoyed it.
I disagree that "no one wants to read" the serious stuff. What you write about is geniune, and it is often a breath of fresh air to read something "real." Not only does it make me feel like I know you better, but I actually find myself applauding your successes and rooting for you when things aren't going great. I personally find it fake when people (on both FB and/or blogs) do nothing but talk about how wonderful their lives are ALL the time. I can't connect with an author that NEVER has problems; this bears no semblance to my life, and I find myself losing interest. Plus, you'd be surprised by how interesting your life is from an outsider such as myself.
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