Self Indulgent?

Something I ask myself from time to time is blogging self indulgent? All this talk about what I like, what I want to show you, what I think, it's slightly narcissistic no? But then I think is there really any better way for me to get my point across sometimes?

I did public speaking competitions in 4-H growing up. I did well; won district, won state, won regional’s, and was top 5 at nationals. But I am terrible at talking to people.

Let me explain.

Public speaking is very contrived. You write a speech, memorize it, regurgitate it to an audience, and then answer questions about the subject matter from the judges. Very controlled, the very antithesis of spontaneous conversation. You don't have to be good at talking to people, you just have to appear to be.

Now, me just walking up and saying, "Hello! I'm Lana, let's chat," is about as terrifying as it gets. I've gotten better as I've gotten older but I still stumble a lot of the time and conversation is just not that easy for me. Lots and lots of practice over the years has helped, but I still and always will struggle. Why? Who knows? I wasn't a terribly shy child, quiet maybe, but once I get to know you I'll talk your ear off.

Maybe it's the artist in me. Again, who knows?

Back to the point at hand. Blogging is a comfortable way for me to express myself. I love taking pictures and making things, but you'd probably never know it in real life. I don't know why I hide my light under a bushel basket as my grandmother used to say, but I do. I hate attention. Compliments make me blush and stammer. My friends in college have first hand knowledge of this.

Blogging is a way for me to express myself and share the things I love and not have to stumble about explaining why. Either you like it or you don't. If you like it, you look at it and comment, if you don't you move along to the next thing. This no pressure approach is probably not best for everyone, but it works for me. So yes, it is a little self indulgent, a little narcissistic, but oh well. I am planning on entering some competitions, haven't done that in a while, and that pushes me into that accept/decline part of art. We all hate it, but it's awesome when something gets accepted into a show. I'm also plotting and scheming some other things, but I'll talk about them more in the coming year.

I'm sorry there's not a Foodie Friday post for today, I had taken some pictures last night for a simple roasted asparagus recipe but we dug in and started eating before I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures of the finished product. DOH! It's not like it will be the last time I ever make roasted asparagus so I'll get it up eventually. It's so stupidly simple I hate to even give out a recipe.

I hope you have a fantastic Friday the 13th my lovelies and hopefully we'll be back up and running at full steam next week!