This wouldn't fit in the comment thing. Okay, so some people talk so much about themselves that it isn't interesting or choose to do like a chronological account of their day and lose my interest. You manage to talk enough about yourself so I feel like I know a small part of you because of your honesty, while you talk about the girls and Rob enough so as I'm always glad to hear about them because you do it sparingly. Maybe if you talked about them all the time I would still be interested maybe not. I think overall it's your authenticity that makes your journal good to read. You stress over your weight or the fact that the kids don't like whatever you cooked, that there isn't enough money for karate, that Rob still hasn't done the taxes, and at the same time you are so concerned in specific ways about how your nurture your daughters and provide a space for them to grow and be affirmed and empowered. Maybe it wouldn't be the best sitcom in the world but in a forum like this it is refreshingly genuine.
I'd like to object to your wording on the catch-all category.
Basically, I read your journal to read what you want to post about. (Because I appreciate your openness, and understand you're as open as you feel you can be at this particular time.)
I don't have a "weird fascination," though. That feels negative. I'm just interested in you, and in what you want to write about.
Hi. I've been lurking in your journal for quite some time now, but have been too shy to say anything. I adore your journal because, as people above said, it feels like getting the real you. I like it when you talk about all these subjects (although my favourites are your family stories, because Fiona and Delia remind me of me, sometimes.)
Why else do you read my journal (i.e., any reason I missed)?
I've been thinking about this question of yours for the past few days, Peg, and because of how seriously I take your entries, I wanted to be able to answer it well.
I read your journal because it seems to be a genuine, fluid documentation of a life well-lived, and that has always been what I like to read most.
You express joy in the perfect beauty that no one can see unless s/he takes the time and the focus to do so -- the smell of a flower, the color of the sky, a small moment in the midst of a busy day. You remind me to observe and hold onto the little things, because they aren't really little at all.
You take such care of your family -- not just in providing for them, but in doing your best to ensure they can provide for themselves and for others. I'm learning what questions I need to ask myself before I really consider becoming a parent, and I'm developing the answers to those questions by observing your journey.
You practice the art of writing -- perhaps not as you understand and recognize it, as regular, steady work on one subject for an object goal (i.e. the ice palace book), but in the steady consistent recording of words on a page to convey *something.* This journal is a record of a writer's thoughts and dreams, plots and counterplots. I wonder sometimes how much fodder you have in these pages for stories. And in that wondering, I realize that I, too, have the work for a great deal of what I want to accomplish in my life already done, simply by the steady and repetetive act of living and recording it in memory.
I read your journal because you inspire me to be a whole, complete person, not to be "just" a daughter, "just" a writer, "just" a lover, "just" a worker. Your example spurs me to realise the value of each aspect of my life, and inspires me to be everything that I am without apology, without guilt, wthout trepidation. And you inspire that quest within me not from a conscious desire to do so, but by living your life in the same way, the good with the bad, the pleasant with the ugly, and recording it for yourself and all of us.
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pegkerr
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-25 04:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-25 04:52 pm (UTC)Yes, that's exactly it. I didn't feel out the comment box, but I almost said this exact thing.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-25 05:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-25 09:00 pm (UTC)Basically, I read your journal to read what you want to post about. (Because I appreciate your openness, and understand you're as open as you feel you can be at this particular time.)
I don't have a "weird fascination," though. That feels negative. I'm just interested in you, and in what you want to write about.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-25 11:48 pm (UTC)May I friend you?
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-26 12:08 am (UTC)You are more than welcome to friend me, and I hope you will keep coming back and commenting. I don't bite, and I love meeting new people.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-26 12:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-28 04:09 am (UTC)I've been thinking about this question of yours for the past few days, Peg, and because of how seriously I take your entries, I wanted to be able to answer it well.
I read your journal because it seems to be a genuine, fluid documentation of a life well-lived, and that has always been what I like to read most.
You express joy in the perfect beauty that no one can see unless s/he takes the time and the focus to do so -- the smell of a flower, the color of the sky, a small moment in the midst of a busy day. You remind me to observe and hold onto the little things, because they aren't really little at all.
You take such care of your family -- not just in providing for them, but in doing your best to ensure they can provide for themselves and for others. I'm learning what questions I need to ask myself before I really consider becoming a parent, and I'm developing the answers to those questions by observing your journey.
You practice the art of writing -- perhaps not as you understand and recognize it, as regular, steady work on one subject for an object goal (i.e. the ice palace book), but in the steady consistent recording of words on a page to convey *something.* This journal is a record of a writer's thoughts and dreams, plots and counterplots. I wonder sometimes how much fodder you have in these pages for stories. And in that wondering, I realize that I, too, have the work for a great deal of what I want to accomplish in my life already done, simply by the steady and repetetive act of living and recording it in memory.
I read your journal because you inspire me to be a whole, complete person, not to be "just" a daughter, "just" a writer, "just" a lover, "just" a worker. Your example spurs me to realise the value of each aspect of my life, and inspires me to be everything that I am without apology, without guilt, wthout trepidation. And you inspire that quest within me not from a conscious desire to do so, but by living your life in the same way, the good with the bad, the pleasant with the ugly, and recording it for yourself and all of us.
Thank you for that.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-29 02:58 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-29 10:43 am (UTC)