(no subject)

[zyzyly]

I had a live journal dream last night--the first one. I was sitting at a big round table, and all sorts of lj people I know were sitting around the table talking. But they (you) weren't actually three-dimensional people--they (you) were kind of half-people, half icon. It was strange.

It was something I was thinking about the other day after reading a couple of posts. Someone whose journal I read regularly posted some sort of self revealing survey thing. As I read the responses, I came across one that really surprised me, and it caused me to reconsider the picture I had formed in my mind of them. Not in a bad way, just different.

I have never met any LJ person in person. Pretty much everything I know is taken from what you've written. There are a few people who I have chatted with, and a few with whom I have swapped emails, but that's about it. So what I know about you is what you want me to know. Mostly.

There are impressions I've made that go beyond what you've written--my attempt to "fill in the blanks". Some of it develops over time. Read enough and the person begins to take shape. Certain attitudes, beliefs, even ways of expressing emotions all add to the picture. I might even know things about you that you yourself don't realize.

Other parts are pure imagination. Hair color, body shape, voice. Unless you post a lot of pictures, but even then, there's still things to imagine. It's kind of like reading a book. You develop a mental picture of that character. I like doing that. It is why I always read the book before I see the movie.

Some of what I write about in here would surprise the people who know me in real-life. The have formed a picture of me that is made of the bits and pieces of my life that they know. Occasionally I'll drop other pieces on the table, pieces that don't quite match the rest. They seem to have a hard time fitting them into the picture they've made. I suppose it is the same here.

So sometimes I wonder about you--who you really are. I enjoy reading about your life though, and thank you for choosing to share it.

Comments

[digitalshephed.livejournal.com]

I enjoy this philosphy. Interesting dream.
To answer your question, when making my scrapbook entries I do my best to present things as they happened, but I'm certain that in some cases I interpretted things to happen differently than those in my company saw them.
In my day-to-day journal I do my best to give honest glimpses of who I am now, but there are certain things that can not be conveyed or conceived without meeting me in person. For example, if shared how much I laughed at 'Family Guy' the other night and why, you'd have to have seen me to get an idea of what I was trying to convey about myself.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think I'm presently myself in an honest light, but it is very likely I leave important details out because I find them either hard to convey or unimportant in the scheme of things.
Have you ever gone back through someone's journal and got an idea of how much they've changed over the time they've been journaling?

[myasma.livejournal.com]

"Have you ever gone back through someone's journal and got an idea of how much they've changed over the time they've been journaling?"

I haven't, but I would wonder about if they had changed, or had just become more comfortable with the journaling experience. I know that when I first started, I wasn't sure what to write. It was the journals I read that gave me the idea of how to express myself, and I have become more comfortable with it as time goes on.

What I find even more interesting in reading journals over time is what people reveal about themselves "between the lines". That is where I really get the feeling that the person is "real".

[tiwonge.livejournal.com]

I've never had a LJ-dream. At least, not that I remember. The only LJ people I've met I met before LJ--mouse_the_drunk, meep and sparkler. (And I haven't seen any of them since I started my LJ account, I don't believe. They all live on the wrong side of the country.

[digitalshephed.livejournal.com]

Hrm, in my case I've seen people change. Their attitudes are defintely different. I wonder if my scrapbook reveals gives an idea of 'real' or, if because of its subject matter, it's more smoke than substance.

[jmhm.livejournal.com]

Um.

I'm really not this strident in actual life.

[myasma.livejournal.com]

But isn't this part of actual life?

[jmhm.livejournal.com]

well, no, not all of it.

This is the part where no-one knows I'm a chihuahua.

10-day free trial offer!

[saintgeorge.livejournal.com]

I notice that you have befriended me. In 5000 words or less (footnotes included), please explain why you find my journal worth reading.

I consider myself to be a good man, walking on a spiritual path in this dark and troubled world and trying to help those around me, but I must warn you that I also have an eccentric personality, and a dark sense of humor, and a tone that can be interpreted as patronizing.

If you are quick to anger and slow to forgive, then it will be best for both of us if you drop me from your list. If, on the other hand, you have the insight, wisdom and Godly forgiving nature to see past my defects to the sanctified being within, then I will welcome you as my friend.

Patrick (aka Saint George)

Just under 5000 words

[myasma.livejournal.com]

I came across your journal when I was browsing dabrooklyn's friend's list. Usually when I add someone, I leave them a note, but for some reason, I don't think I did that with you.

There were a few things that caused me to add you. One was the general tone of your writings, and the spirituality that is apparent in them. I was also interested in what you were writing about. I could relate to both the story about your sister and her husband being unable to have children, and the story of your mother's failng health.

I don't subscribe to the notion that someone's online journal has to please others. You have only to be true to yourself.

Thanks for introducing yourself!

Mike