Who Are You Really?

Kelly over at Stacked recently wrote a post on authenticity and blogging that perked me up. She spends time exploring why we blog, how to be true to yourself and your voice and how to let the outside clamor stay outside while you follow your own path. Putting pressure on yourself about how you blog, how frequently or what your content is leads away from authenticity.

Her thoughts resonate with me. I have heard many bloggers over the last few months feeling publicly bad about not blogging enough or feeling like they are being neglectful. I always chalk this up to the pressure of summer reading months. No matter how swell things are, these months are very intense and take the creative juice right out of you. It's tempting to put just anything up on the blog to let people know you aren't dead - yet.

But I find that lack of posts from bloggers I follow doesn't bother me. I know life happens. And when they return with a post it is often thoughtful and something they feel passionate about - it is authentic in a way that those who post frequently rarely reach.

I tell myself that as I go through dry periods too (sometimes I must speak sternly to me).  I write what I care about. I write what I believe in.  But there is a special children's librarian muse who simply must visit me first.  The blog waits for me to hear the muse and write. And I hope my readers will as well.

Image: 'Incognito'  http://www.flickr.com/photos/22074118@N00/997415862 Found on flickrcc.net