Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Am I Boring you?

There are people who know their lives are interesting to others and some of them bask in that and thrive on it. There are people who wish their lives weren't quite so interesting to others.

I think that if you ask most people, including many celebrities, they would say their lives are ordinary and mundane. That's what I think of my life. I've often considered the process of writing an autobiography but I can't think of anything to put into it.

I was born in Burlington, VT. So were thousands of other people. My first job was in a grocery store. Again, true of a large volume of the population. I was a nerd in high school. I went to college. I got drunk and partied in college. I miraculously graduated from college. I got married. I bought a house. etc. etc. etc. Sounds pretty plain, doesn't it?

So why is it that personal blogs remain popular? What do we find so fascinating about each others lives?

I think the reason other's lives are interesting is that their experiences either remind us of our own or their experiences are so outside our own that we are mesmerized by them. Yes, I was born in Burlington, VT like thousands of others. But only a few of them can say that their family has been so deeply involved in the volunteer fire department in Richmond, VT that the one and only time the town had a Fire Marshall was when they created the position to keep my grandfather, a highly respected and revered man, involved with the fire department as his health declined.

Yes, my first job was in a grocery store. But that job was as a bag boy. My only responsibility was to bag the groceries and assist people with transporting them to and loading them into their cars. An extinct occupation that faded into obsolescence like the attendant at the corner service station.

That's what makes those stories interesting. The components unique to my (the author's) experience. Doing the job that doesn't exist anymore. Having the personal connection to an entire town. Watching a friend take a flying kick at a trashcan while walking home from my 21st birthday gathering at the local watering hole... and having the distinct pleasure of laughing at him as I explained that they were bolted to the sidewalk.

So keep writing those blogs. Keep telling those stories. Keep sharing those experiences that I can either relate to or enjoy vicariously.

1 comment:

Aunt Murry said...

I so wish I could but in light of the fact where my life is at the moment, I can't not without masking myself and I have no secrets. None. So until things are reolved if they ever are, I will read yours.