Visibility

On some level, we all want to be seen.  Some people want to be seen by the world, they are not only comfortable on center stage with all eyes on them, but they crave that level of attention.  Other people are perfectly happy backstage, only being seen by very select people.

I started this blog, when several friends were doing a group blogging adventure.  When I started, I didn't share beyond that group.  My posts were published, and people could stumble upon them, they weren't private, but I wasn't sharing them.

Two years later, I joined my first blog project.  Not only was this the start of my writing a blog post every week, but I was sharing, again within the group only, but I was a baby step because the group was so much larger, and it was strangers.

The year after that, the big blog project I had been a part of ceased to continue, but one of the forums I was on picked it up.  Sadly, participation in that project dwindled after a few months, and I found my own interest in blogging wane. 

And then, the next year, I found my own inspiration.  I made the decision to blog every week, no matter who else was blogging along with me.  And somewhere after here, I started to share my work publicly.  I posted my blog posts on my Facebook wall and I shared in select groups (where appropriate).

I'm really not a spotlight kind of person, and I hate shining the light on myself.  It has been a struggle for me to share my own work, and I always feel kind of apologetic sharing stuff I've done.  But, I also love hearing feedback, I love seeing how my words have touched people.

I am not sure I'll ever be comfortable in the lime light, but I can stand in the shadows and stick my head out now and again.  I am getting better at stepping into my own space, and at putting myself out there, making myself vulnerable, and allowing myself to be seen.