I think I might have convinced my mother to start a blog while at the same time not letting on that I have a blog myself. I know I'm going to want to link to it, but then she can track back and find my blog and I won't be able to talk about her and the rest of my family so liberally. And that, quite frankly, would be a cryin' shame. A girl's gotta vent.
The reason I think she should start a blog is that she loves to rant. I get a lot of "Can you believe [insert random, and I mean random thing to rant about here]?!" The current record she's playing is about how the guys she works with don't like music. As she says, "How can you not like music?" I agree of course, but just when you'd think a nod and a comiserating, "That's crazy" would be the end of the conversation, it isn't, and another 20 minutes goes by on the phone with her lamenting their idiocy but not really adding much to the argument. I think a blog might 1) help her foment her point and 2) find her an audience thereby taking the stress off of me and my siblings.
You see, for whatever reason, she has no friends to rant to. It's not because of her personality (except perhaps that the ranting could get old) but because she has a touch of what we now call "social anxiety" which was once called, simply, "shyness". You wouldn't know it to look at her. Especially if she's around the family. But she always wants to be around the family, partly because she has no friends. See the vicious cycle? She's comfortable with us, uncomfortable with others, and therefore seeks a lot of one to make up for the lack of other. It hard to be the child and the friend. Thank goddness there are 4 of us kids. It would be too big a job for one person.
Recently, however, my sister, brother and I have noticed a definite lull in the ranting, like she can't quite get up the energy or interest to go off on something. And although that is a good thing for us, it actually makes us concerned about her mental health. We think she's depressed. I don't necessarily want to tell my Mom, "Get thee to a therapist" but I'm definitely an advocate of the therapeutic benefits of a blog so there you go.
If I can figure out how to tell you where to go without giving up my secret identity I'll do it.
In the meantime, I just this morning reconnected with an old friend I haven't seen in, gosh, is it already 7 years? And she has a blog herself - Granny Hall. Go check it out! Also, don't miss her favorite obituaries. Morbid, but fascinating.
The reason I think she should start a blog is that she loves to rant. I get a lot of "Can you believe [insert random, and I mean random thing to rant about here]?!" The current record she's playing is about how the guys she works with don't like music. As she says, "How can you not like music?" I agree of course, but just when you'd think a nod and a comiserating, "That's crazy" would be the end of the conversation, it isn't, and another 20 minutes goes by on the phone with her lamenting their idiocy but not really adding much to the argument. I think a blog might 1) help her foment her point and 2) find her an audience thereby taking the stress off of me and my siblings.
You see, for whatever reason, she has no friends to rant to. It's not because of her personality (except perhaps that the ranting could get old) but because she has a touch of what we now call "social anxiety" which was once called, simply, "shyness". You wouldn't know it to look at her. Especially if she's around the family. But she always wants to be around the family, partly because she has no friends. See the vicious cycle? She's comfortable with us, uncomfortable with others, and therefore seeks a lot of one to make up for the lack of other. It hard to be the child and the friend. Thank goddness there are 4 of us kids. It would be too big a job for one person.
Recently, however, my sister, brother and I have noticed a definite lull in the ranting, like she can't quite get up the energy or interest to go off on something. And although that is a good thing for us, it actually makes us concerned about her mental health. We think she's depressed. I don't necessarily want to tell my Mom, "Get thee to a therapist" but I'm definitely an advocate of the therapeutic benefits of a blog so there you go.
If I can figure out how to tell you where to go without giving up my secret identity I'll do it.
In the meantime, I just this morning reconnected with an old friend I haven't seen in, gosh, is it already 7 years? And she has a blog herself - Granny Hall. Go check it out! Also, don't miss her favorite obituaries. Morbid, but fascinating.
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