Let’s get real

I have been blogging for a long time. However, this blog is a big departure for me. My old blog has been a place for me to talk about anything without editing myself at all. This is not to say I have been saying anything bad or negative but it is not a “professional” blog. As you may have guessed, the purpose of this blog is definitely professional. However, I still want it to contain compelling content. I want people to engage with what I write and give me feedback. I realize that if I edit myself too much, I’m removing the heart and soul of what I write and I’m not making much of an impact. I’ve been thinking about that a lot for the past week. I just read this post at babble and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I realize that creating a portfolio site for my writing means I have to blog more candidly. This blog needs to be telling a story and I need to figure out what that story is.

So why is this so difficult for me? I think I can sum up the answer to this question by saying that I just want to make the best impression that I can. I don’t want people to visit this site and get the wrong idea about me. I am a hard worker. I am creative. I am practical. But guess what? I have my worries and my issues. I have never liked broadcasting those things in such a public manner but I need to find the balance. Otherwise, anyone who reads this is not getting an accurate reflection of who I am.

I want to be “real”. I want to be “professional”. Is it possible to be both? I know that this is definitely possible in a working environment. I think it is much more challenging to find this balance online. It is much easier for people to misunderstand one another based solely on reading one another’s words. I just don’t want that to happen here.

Any advice? I’d love to hear it!