10 September 2004

This is a first

My journal has been around since January.  Today I did something here that I had not before.  I deleted a previous entry.

There's quite a bit of stuff I've written in the last eight months that I am not particularly impressed with, but I've always felt that writing is like playing golf: there are just going to be days where you are not good, no matter how much you try or how good you feel.  Sometimes the words just don't want to come out right.

In golf, if I hit a bad shot, I can tell right away why, and most of the time it has to do with mechanics-I lifted my head or didn't follow through.  Sometimes though, everything goes as it should, yet the ball hits a tree ot falls right into the water.

I know I will have an opportunity to hit that same type of shot again sometime in the future, and I'll remember what made it go wrong the last time I hit it.

I don't delete what I have written here because when I go back and read anything, whether it has been a day or a month since it was written, there are things to find in it that make me appreciate my writing skills, even if I feel it is not a particularly good.

I guess what I am trying to say here is the even when I write badly, I think I become a better writer.

The entry I deleted today has nothing to do with my writing.  It has to do with me being duped (as many of us were).  Such is the danger when you read what people write without knowing who they really are.

Two last comments about this: everyone embellishes in their lives at some point or another, but to make people think you are dealing with a life or death situation is pathetic.  I don't feel bad about falling for it because it shows that I have a little compassion, and anyone else who fell for this should feel the same way.  I think it's better to be compassionate about something that doesn't exist rather than not be compassionate about something that does.

Lastly, what is written in here is me.  I don't write about things that I think don't belong here or that I think people will not care about.  I am not going to visit other people's sites and be skeptical.  I am going to give people the benefit of a doubt, and I am hoping that everyone does the same with me. 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Absolutely.  We cannot allow a selfish person, who needs a great deal of therapy, to rob us of our trust of and for each other.  If we allow that to happen, only we lose.  Well said.

~~ jennifer

Anonymous said...

I believe in you:)

Anonymous said...

Hopefully, the situation you describe is rare in this community.  I get the impression that everyone whose journal I read here is pretty much stating the truth about their lives, well, as much as they feel comfortable sharing anyway.  I don't blame you for wanting to delete the entry you did.  --Albert

Anonymous said...

Well said.  Thanks for saying that.

Patrick

Anonymous said...

Hi Jim,

I was only duped once and I said it in my journal once only to that person and there was proof of deciet of that person.  Other than that incident I believe what others say here is the truth.

I don't have the time nor the energy to invent fiction for my journal.  I just talk mundane things.  I know my life is not the most interesting and I don't have the most entertaining of a lifestyle but at least I can say I am honest in my journal.

Anita