A Blogger’s Risk and Reward

I guess I spoke too soon when I asserted that Halley had come out of the Alpha Male controversy smelling like a rose with her blog post today. In a comment to my post, Burningbird takes stinging exception. I follow with an attempt to defend myself, but I must confess, it feels uncomfortable.

This is when blogging gets hard—at least for me. Some bloggers seem to thrive on the give and take of argument, but what’s involved here isn’t some arcane principle of technology or philosophy. It’s male/female—emotional stuff. These are waters that if one enters, one may get zapped. It’s not my nature to be a pot-stirrer. I just like to talk about my emotions sometimes, and Halley’s piece affected me emotionally. If that makes me a sucker, so be it. And, Bird, I don’t say that sarcastically. I really do respect your opinion.

Yes, the blogging may get uncomfortable at times like this, but herein lies a good chunk of its value. The risks of exposure have injected much-needed new juice into my life. Left to my own devices, I tend to be too freakin’ private.

I’m especially glad to be having this insight right now because pieces by Joe Clark and Mark Pilgrim which I read today—via Mike Golby--were leaving me rather depressed about the whole enterprise.