Do I Show the Real Me When I Blog?

I was reading the latest blog entry by Lane in his blog, That Man Quilts  .  Essentially he asked the question, do we show the "real" us when we blog?  That is an interesting question, and I must confess I do not.  I am a very private person and I must confess, not always very trustful.  It takes me a while to get to know people, and until I do, I am pretty guarded, I am not "weird" and really have a very good reason (I think) for being that way.  I don't post a picture of myself, nor of my family, because honestly,  this blog really isn't about them or our life, it is about my creative journey.   In looking around blogland, I find however, although there a many who do share specifics about their life (and I enjoy them), there are also many who don't.  Am I being selfish, enjoying reading about others, but not willing to share anything about me?

In addition, I really wanted my blog to be about quilting.  I didn't really want to share a lot of my personal  life because I use my blog as an outlet.  When I am feeling a bit "low", writing in my blog, and reading others, really helps to remove that little "thunder cloud", although I must confess, when I read sad thing, I get sad.   I really rather read about quilting, funny stories and interesting observations, involving quilting (did I tell you I really enjoy quilting).   It really isn't necessary that I get a lot of comments daily (although I really enjoy them), it is enough that I see the visit numbers going up and I know that someone is reading my comments.  There is so much sadness, unkindness/meaness, dishonesty, etc. in the world, I guess I want to keep my "issues" to myself, and focus on things that help me forget for a minute, that "life isn't always fair, and that there is a lot of "stuff" going on daily.  I guess I would rather have a couple of minutes when my world is free form those things, even if only for a little while.  Now the question is, does that make me dishonest?  I don't think so, just makes me human.

Now, I am going back to blogging about quilting.  Thanks Lane,  for a thought provoking opportunity. 

xoxo