Have you ever had a blog?

Neil Gaiman said it best: "Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up." But in this case, change 'been in love' to 'had a blog'.

Whenever someone publishes a blog, they open themselves up to be scrutinised and analysed by the perfectionists and self proclaimed 'trolls' of the internet. Everyone has tendencies to judge and sometimes it's very easy to forget that we are doing so. Personally I think that in moderation this can be healthy and can lead to bigger and better things. I'm not justifying bullying or school girl bitching but I don't see anything wrong with a well informed rant. Criticism is a useful tool that can help us improve ourselves, if we are able to take it constructively that is. Really, this is my way of explaining that I don't want to censor what I say or what I think out of fear that someone may read my blog and criticise it. First of all: let's assume that someone somewhere reads my blog. That in and of itself is pretty fucking spectacular! Secondly: if that one, spectacular person chooses to voice their opinion regarding my blog, then who am I to take that comment as a personal attack? Assuming the comment wasn't 'you are stooopid' (deliberately spelt wrong for dramatic effect), then surely I can use that comment to rethink the way I broadcast myself on the internet. Or alternatively, I can look at it and see it for exactly what it is, a comment. If I so desire, I can shrug it off and carry on. Don't read too much into your 'haters' and don't give them the power to ruin what is good in your life. One of my favourite quotes comes from the bombshell that was Marilyn Monroe! "Keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.” Long story short, if you can take the criticism then you may discover that you develop into a better person because of it. And if you can't, then step back from the computer and remember that this is your life and no one should be able to ruin that for you.

So, maybe I should explain why I have started this blog. Truthfully, some of my friends have started blogs and it sounded like a great way to express myself and hopefully improve my reflective writing. I also think that this would be a nice way to document the remainder of my time at University and then my subsequent travels and adventures. I was once told that the world is an oyster ripe for my taking. I have since extended that metaphor. If the world is an oyster, I want to stick a knife in it and pry it open to see if there’s a jewel inside or just a misshapen, slimy creature, hiding. I smell opportunity. Here I go. I think. Maybe not yet, but soon. Yes, soon. After University, I’ll take the plunge. I’ll leap with utter abandon. I’ll throw myself into the air and wait for fate to take its course. I’ll land, I think. And I'll have this blog to look back on and remember what I did, where I went and who I met.