My whole life I have been shy and it’s always been a struggle to be myself in front of people. I have that same issue with my “internet persona.” I’ll type the first thing that comes to my mind, and then over-think it. I worry what people will think. I worry that they will judge. Or think I’m weird. Or inappropriate.
But you know what? Sometimes I am weird. Or inappropriate. It’s who I am. I swear. Often. (I mean, have you seen my Etsy shop?) And I can understand that some people don’t like swearing and don’t want to see swearing. But why edit who I am? I mean, I see blog posts that I don’t agree with, or don’t have an interest in, so I just don’t read them. I don’t judge anyone based on their opinions, and I especially don’t think one should be judged on how they are perceived on the internet. It’s hard enough to read sarcasm correctly through a text from your friend, how can you make a true judgement of someone based on what they say online?
Am I on a tangent? I feel like I am. The point it, I don’t want to censor myself anymore. I want to be confident in who I am and not worry so much about people liking it or not. There are some bloggers who are so great at being true to themselves on their blogs and I really admire them for that. It is just something I have never found easy. But I’m working on it. xo JA
I think a lot of people struggle with just how much of themselves to share in he blogging world and worry about if they’re really being themselves… i know i do 😛 It’s so easy to over-analyze others’ responses to us… but definitely a good feeling when you feel like you’re able to fully express yourself 🙂
Amen sister. 🙂
Honestly, I think we all struggle a little bit about what we should and shouldn’t post on our blogs. Keep being you, I for one think you are awesome!
xo
This is YOUR space 🙂 You are already owning it, this is just your next step! I personally love all yours posts. Xo
I understand!
Keep being you, I think you’re pretty cool 🙂
I like seeing real bloggers so this is nice to here! Being you is definitely the best option.
Carlee
Almost Endearing
Good for you!! I go through the same stages and wonder if something will sound weird or dorky. But guess what, most of the time, I’m weird and dorky haha. It’s like that saying : the people who care don’t matter, and the ones who matter, don’t care! 😉
I like you for who you are! own it lady! (not that I can really say anything like that, because I for one am sometimes pretty closed on my blog– but I think it has to do with the ol’ day job.) 😉
but yes! be who you are! this is your space! exclamation points!
xoxo
I love that you wrote this. I think it’s hard as bloggers (or facebookers or twitter-ers?) not to censor ourselves. Of course we want to give a perfect version of ourselves, to hide our flaws so people will look up to us or think we are “cooler” than we actually are. But I think being as real as possible is the most important part. The point of this open writing form we have been given is not to be self promoting, but to be honest. And I commend you for having the balls to do it.
Love this blog. So much.
I think it is easy as bloggers to edit and re-edit ourselves to death…we are all a little weird, let’s be weird together!
xo, Courtney
shabbyloveschic.com
Personally, I come here because I appreciate you and what you’re about. But I can understand where you’re coming from. I struggle with the same issue on my blog. But I do find that I get the best responses when I just let loose and be my crazy self. When I try to censor myself or write in a way that isn’t me, it all feels so contrived and just…not genuine. And I think it comes across that way to readers too. Be yourself girl!
be who YOU are! don’t let anyone ever change that about you. love you, friend. 🙂
Weird and inappropriate actually means interesting.
I feel somewhat the same! I am super shy in person but I don’t have a problem being myself on the internet. I guess it’s easy to hide behind a computer screen :).
The world would be a truly boring place if people only read what they agree with. Say what you have to say – just be sure it’s all grammatically correct ;}
You are definitely weird. I love you anyway. (Or is it because?)
I feel the same way most of the time! I’m a complete introvert. Most people think I’m mean or something until they get to know me just because I am so shy and don’t talk a lot. I’m also completely sarcastic– all the time. It’s probably really bad. It’s taken me a while to find my voice on my blog and I think a lot of people probably think I’m really weird too, but I’d rather be me than gloss things over, so I just keep at what I’m doing. Don’t be afraid to be yourself! You’ll feel better about it than if you try to be someone else!
High five to that! I always always prefer reading a blog that feels authentic rather than those who just aren’t.
I’m weird sometimes too, I definitely swear and have plenty of awkward moments 🙂
I’m so glad you wrote this. I follow you on Instagram, I have seen most all of your lovely cards, and I’ve thought to myself, “Why doesn’t she swear more on her blog?” I’m not saying for you to do it for the sake of doing it. I just mean, it seems you’re sassy, witty, and confident. It makes you attractive to readers, and I think your card business is successful because of that too! So, swear on sassy blog sister, and good on you for coming out of your shell too. (I’m partly talking to myself as well. It’s not always easy to truly say what you mean!) ^^
This is a great start! Acknowledging where you have a hard time is the first step to breaking those barriers down.
I was just thinking about this last night and you popped up. I was wondering to myself ” Amy why are you sensoring yourself, Julie Ann doesn’t when she makes her cards and they are hilarious, just like you” and I decided that I too wasn’t going to stop being myself because I am scared.
If people don’t like what you say, your appearance, or whatever, they don’t have to visit your blog, but for 1 lost, there will always be 1 gained because people are attracted to “real” people. :]
You do you, boo!
Girl I FEEL YOU! Kristen of KV’s Confessions and I were chatting about this the other day (and her blog post here sums it up quite nicely: http://www.kristen-victoria.com/2012/11/a-post-to-ponder.html. We all want to project ourselves in a certain way, and we want people to like us, and we don’t want to offend anyone. But we need to be ourselves, too… trust me, I struggle with this every. single. day.
I have the same problems with being myself on my blog. I am super weird and inappropriate and possibly even obnoxious in person. I think part of the problem is that it’s hard to portray that type of personality on a blog. I mean I could talk in all caps when I’m excited and ramble about something totally RANDOM, but it wouldn’t be the same as if you were listening to me talk. Does that make sense? I recently posted a photo of myself goofing off while trying to do some outfit photos. I thought twice, three times about it because I don’t want people to think of me as that weird girl without knowing who I really am and understanding it. But I posted it anyway in my “hello, december” post. Too bad. I look like a creeper/weirdo, but it’s ok because it’s me, right? 😉 Sorry for this blog post length comment, just rambling!
You know the cool thing about blogging? People are way more accepting. Seriously. I mean, I lost my job and never had as much support as I did online. I announced I was getting a divorce after 3 short years of marriage and the outpouring of emails and texts, tweets and comments was overwhelming.
My favorite blogs are the ones in which I know the blogger is being their true self. Even when they swear (btw, I love your ETSY shop so much because of its realism) or are inappropriate.
Be you. Your friends (both in “real life” and online) will love you, not in spite of it but because of it.
Just be you! It’s what you’re best at 🙂
I feel the same way! I am shy in person and when on the Internet I tend to over think things and find myself erasing and retyping things to make sure they come out right. But you are so right about just being yourself!
Good for you! Can’t wait to read some cursing posts 🙂
i feel this way all the time, girl! sometimes i don’t have a filter though, so i edit to keep things professional 😉 i think this post is beautifully written and i feel like we have a lot more in common just based off that confession of yours. the more i confess on my blog the better i feel about the community – we are all more alike than we realize! xo
I think that you’d find – the more real you are and honest on your blog – the more people will love you. 🙂
Hell fucking yes.
Why are you moving away? I need us to be best friends. Like seriously.
I’ve never really had this problem, because I’ve been online since I was a little girl. So online and off, I am pretty much the same. I’m very open with who I am, what I am, what I go through, love and hate… Because of that, of course, a lot of people don’t like me. 😛 And that’s okay! Because really, I’d rather be me than a knock off of someone else. 😉 I think you should definitely be yourself, and if you need any support, lemme know!
i love your honesty and your blog and always look forward to it landing in my inbox – keep it up lots of love team pugh http://www.ayearwithoutsupermarkets.com
As a teen I used to be quiet and shy. I’m not sure how but now I’m not. I’m 31. I’ve been through a fair bit in my life. I’m far from confident at everything but I’m learning that being happy within yourself is one of the most important things in life. And if other people don’t like what I say, how I say it, what I do, what I wear, the swearing, my opinions, then tough shit!!! My own brother has un-friended me on FB so I guess he doesn’t like me as I am. Whatevs.
I’m so, so impressed and a tiny bit jealous that you have had the balls to follow your dreams for your business and blog!! That’s something I’m a million miles off doing at the moment. Give yourself credit for doing things your way. It’s a HUGE deal in my opinion. HUGE!! I’m sure you will get to where you want to be. It will take time and pushing yourself a little bit to do the things that scare you, but you will get there. And your readers are here to support you all the way xx
I think we all feel that way. Putting yourself out there is hard. Trust yourself.
I think your sense of humor is awesome! (as far as I can tell from your shop anyway)
i feel the same way all the time..i have always been a shy person,and i guess it got worse once i got to middle school. but you know what,i was so fed up of me caring about what other people thought or said about me and now i don’t care a shit of what they think of me. its hard to find people who loves you for who you are and it takes a lot of courage to be who you are,speacially shy people like us ^-^im happy that you realised it as well 🙂