As is my wont, I have come up with yet another bizarre blogger term:
Blasque (blog + masque) = the persona that bloggers create for themselves (sometimes deliberately, often not.)
I've been thinking about the topic of blasques for a while. After all, every blogger is really an imperfect, fuzzy reflection of his/her "real world" self.
For example, even though I make attempts to always be 100% truthful in my blogging, I don't talk about certain subjects in depth. For whatever reason, I choose to keep them close to my heart and out of the blogosphere. Ultimately, Recess for Writers isn't a diary for me (you should thank me... you'd be bored to tears if it were!); consequently, it represents only a small percentage of who I am.
In essence, my blasque is distorted, even though I try to be brutally honest. I'm not trying to be deceptive, but just as a photo is a snapshot of a moment in time, my blog is only a collection of selected thoughts, experiences, literary creations and/or observations.
For some bloggers, the blasque they wear is even less of an accurate reflection of who they "really" are. Though they don't necessarily admit it, many bloggers appear to be "posturing", pretending to be tougher or stronger than perhaps they really feel they are. I suspect that if you encountered them on the street, you'd never know they were the same persons who authored their blogs.
So. What does your blasque look like?
Would I recognize you if I saw you today at the grocery store? Would I know who you were if we chatted at the doctor's office while waiting for our appointments? Or would we be completely unaware because our blasques are such tiny fragments of our everyday worlds?
I suppose a blasque is a natural product of blogging, but it's one I'm definitely going to ruminate about for a long time.
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5 comments:
The first part could have been well written by me as well, I am really surprised to see that. I am honest in my blog, but show only a certain of my faces, or rather, not going into detalied description of some other aspects of my life.
I do not hide that I'm married for example, but that's just about it.
I blog for certain type of creativity that would otherwise not fit into my life.
And yes, I think you would recognize me, but in real life, my English is poorer. Here, I have time to think again, re-read, correct grammar.
I tend to write liberately, but in speaking I hold myself back and do the silent part in parties, conversations, etc.
I have purposefully shrouded myself in anonymity as Hoodie. As Hoodie, my focus is writing and mingling with other writers, learning and expressing without fear. The "blasque" is thick in Hoodieville.
I have another blog as my own self that my friends and family keep up on. I post pictures of myself, my kids and husband. Ultimately I chose to have a second blog because A)I felt uncomfortable sharing my writing exploits with everyone I know personally B)I figured the writing friends I made would find my personal blog boring.
As Hoodie, you probably would not recognized me in person.
As my true self, the way I blog it, surely.
I think we tend to show only parts of ourselves even in person. And I think that you can know someone a long time and they can still have dark, hidden rooms in their souls. And finally, we aren't always aware what we are and aren't showing others.
I try to be forthright on my blog, but also tend to focus on certain aspects of my personality. I view The Clarity of Night as something like a magazine that (hopefully) some folks want to read. It's not a 100% extension of myself. That said, I try to keep the content multi-dimensional to appeal to many different kinds of readers. I do tend to shy away from controversial subjects, since I try to build harmony rather than discord.
Szelsofa: How fascinating that you tend to hold back at parties... from your posts, I would think that you were very free about speaking in groups. Isn't that funny how we create "images" of one another that may or may not be accurate?
Hoodie: Thank god for Hoodieville. :)
tiv: Excellent point. We all have secret places inside, don't we? Believe me... some of mine ain't ever a-comin' out! ha ha
Jason: You do an excellent job of presenting topics in a non-threatening, "let's collaborate" way. I like harmonizing at your blog. :)
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