Personal Space

My reason for blogging started as a lesson in writing. I was a blogging virgin trying to find my way around some of the issues living with a chronic and degenerative illness brings. Soon I felt that writing could be more than just that; it would also be a lesson in creating a web page with backgrounds, pictures and widgets, something I had never really done before safe from creating and updating SharePoint pages at work. Therefore, while my mind was slowly becoming at ease about my illness because of the therapy writing seemed to be, my creativity became paramount because I found out that I actually could create something that others might like.

Most bloggers would lie if we said we only want to write for ourselves. If that were the case, we would never publish anything online, n’est-ce pas? Secretly I feel we all dream of being authors. At least I do, yet I don’t want to generalize too much.

The more people comment on my style of writing, and about English not being my first language (it is in fact my third one), the more I am encouraged to get my thoughts out there. It’s not narcissism or vanity though; it leans towards wanting to help people find solace in my words. Knowing that life is hard indeed but that it will get better eventually, and that life with a degenerative illness is not the end of the world… positivity like this I want people to find in my words.

Balancing writing about life with MS and life in Ireland is often hard because I go through times where I feel I’ve nothing precious to tell in regards to living with the illness that changed my life. Likewise, living in Ireland is always an experience in itself, yet I often find myself lacking anything new to say about it. It is either too silly for words or too demanding to desecrate the image Ireland as a brand portrays to the world.

My other main topic on my blog is books. I am a real bibliophile; I need books around me everywhere I go and every time I leave home. Trying to convey the image books have in my mind is once again a balancing act. Oh, I do find the words to tell the world about my life and books, but I wonder if others are actually interested in my gibberish about literature, books, libraries etc.

In the end, I would love nothing more than to get more tips on things I could write about, and about my style of writing and the technical part of blogging, like choosing themes and layout.

Blogging is something I work on, want to work on and will work on. I want it to stay a place for my self-expression and creativity versus a site designed to attract readers about specified topics. Needless to say, I want to have more readers, and being heard. Freedom of speech is an important issue to me!

The internet and blogging changed my life, and indeed, it helped me settle issues about my illness. Thank you WordPress so for allowing me to do so!