Blogger Challenge: Things I'm Afraid To Tell You

{Image by Ez of Creature Comforts}


Hello, hope you had a good weekend.


Today I want to share something with you...a cause that some of my favourite bloggers have taken up. The world wide web abounds with designer blogs on style, food, photography, DIY, crafting and all things beautiful. Recently, that part of the blogosphere has further upped my awe for what they do. I salute the way all these lovely bloggers have rallied around and chosen to embrace transparency in their lives. They are all for giving more than just a peek at the person behind the blog. In doing so, they have yet again inspired fledgling bloggers like me to express what we think and feel beyond providing just eye candy.


It’s true that all of us have enough craziness in our lives, and trundle along to these beautifully curated blogs to take a break from that. But if at some point all these highly desirable things leave us dissatisfied, well then the purpose is lost. Most blogs are out there to make their readers feel good, inspire them to create and urge us to be nifty, resourceful, positive. These bloggers would be crushed to know that they have been cause for any dissatisfaction.


Do take a look to see what am talking about, and let me know what you think. This is where it all began: Jess of Makeunder My Life wrote this post which inspired Ez of Creature Comforts to write this. 


To bare all and admit that we are human takes a lot of gumption, no one likes feeling vulnerable. Am afraid to tell a lot of things about me. Focusing on pretty can keep the uglies of my life away. But then I realise that am telling only half the story. Hell, let's be really honest, that's just barely 10 percent of the story!


But in keeping with the spirit of sharing, am going to try to actually hit the publish button at the end of this post. <Deep breath> Here is my full-disclosure about some things I haven't shared before:


When I look at these beautiful things on Pinterest and the blogs that I follow, I feel like I fall short on many levels. Firstly, we here in India, do not have access to all these wonderful papers, ribbons, colours, crafting materials, cupcakes, furniture, thrift stores, cookie jars, silhouette cutters, dandy candy, I could go on....basically, all the dainty, cozy, contemporary and neat things that people in more developed places can find easily. I can't even remember the number of times I've craved for a Mason jar! So I feel pretty deprived, even though am blessed in so many ways. Thankfully, this blog helps me focus on the things I do have instead of the ones I wish I did.


Secondly, I feel inadequate in matching up to these wonderful designers, illustrators, photographers and writers. It’s one thing to be inspired and set a high benchmark, but it’s quite a different thing to wonder if you are a bumbling idiot after all (am grateful for the support of gracious readers like you, who give me the courage to carry on, and to even fail). 


Then there is that gnawing feeling of just not being able to blog that often. The big problem is getting good enough content in place to share with all you wonderful people who spare precious time to read Sunny Nomad. I would hate for you to read something and think, well there go 10 minutes of my life that I will never get back.


Am not the most disciplined person around. Even after years of trying, I have not been able to become an early morning person. I’m unable to wake up at a set time unless I have to be somewhere. So I wake up most mornings feeling lousy about having shut off that 6:30 am alarm. Consequently, I have been unable to keep up a regular exercise routine. Couple that with a genuine love for food, and am perpetually struggling to get out of the lethargy zone and into the active one.


I miss Mumbai more than I admit for fear of giving in to the desire of going back. It’s where I have spent most of my life, and even though I resist being typecast as a Mumbaikar, at the end of the day, most of my experiences of dealing with life come from the codes of that city. I dream about going back someday.


There have been two other blogs before this, but most posts on those were so deeply personal that I never published them. I fancied myself a writer, but was too afraid to get personal about my work. That's something am slowing (and painfully) having to accept. Good stories are about real people. 


I don't think I will ever come close to being as awesome as my mom is at balancing work with family, the home and social work. Sometimes I wonder where she gets the energy to do all of it.


Be that as it may, I do think that on the whole, I do a darn good job of being a sunny nomad - am just too optimistic to get bogged down by something for too long. So when I read the tough shares across the blogs, I admire the courage of these women and take up the challenge myself. My problems may be fiddlesticks compared to someone else's, but stepping out of my comfort zone has made me feel more adventurous. It's not just accepting that we are all human, but accepting that it's okay to let others see we're human.


May I recommend that you take up this challenge? Let the veil drop either on your blog or in the comments below.