On being me

We all know that at the end of the day, blogs are more than a little self-serving.  They give we writers and wannabe writers, the chance to put our words out there for the world to munch on and then give us their feedback either by leaving a comment or by not coming back.  For me that's all good.

For the past seven years being me is pretty much the coolest thing ever...for me.  Whether others feel that way, it really doesn't matter.  It used to matter.  I was starved for validation.  Turned out I was looking in all the wrong places for it.  Admit it.  Every human wants to be validated.  We want to know that we have a purpose for being here.  It's in our DNA.  Today I get more than I deserve and it will blow my mind every minute till I leave this plain again.

The best thing about being me today is that I do not have any formal education beyond high school.  Not having a degree does limit job opportunities and affects my pay scale but it also means that I have created my own foundation and built me without blueprints with angles and elements proscribes by architectural scholars.  I was given a few building blocks in English classes on how to properly construct a sentence and a paragraph.  I learned from tutorials and a few library books about balancing a visual piece and aligning photograph.  I never took a single journalism class so I had no clue how to do an interview or write a review.  I walked into this thing cold!

"How is that a good thing?" you ask.  Easy, I ask the questions that journalists don't.  I allow my emotions to come into play in an interview.  It is no longer a "Q&A" but a conversation.  Unintentionally I open people up like the, proverbial, can of worms.  Most times I don't even mean to.  I let them tell their stories and their backstories.  I want it in context.  I introduce readers to the real people behind the art and I can do that because the ABSOLUTE BEST THING about my style is that, with very few exceptions, at the end of the conversation I have made a new friend.  The reason you, dear readers, feel the way you do about the people I write about here, on Not Your Mom's, Put A Face On It and for FourCulture is because I'm introducing you to people I have gotten to know enough to actually love, even if just a little.

Tomorrow, I'll introduce you to another friend.  He's pretty cool.  He has blue hair.  Yep...blue hair.  He dances like a boss, sings and has a kind and gentle heart.  He is yet another member of the tribe.  So come back tomorrow and I'll let him tell you all about himself as an artist.  Peace out bitches.  Love you.