Mostly I choose funny or creative ones.
Reading another persons blog is like being part of their life for a minute and getting to amuse yourself by going through their stuff.
Mentally, at least.
Kinda like taking a tour of homes, you didn't ask to eyeball their stuff...you were invited to be there.
Gratefully though a blog post is unlike a tour of homes in that you don't have to get dressed in actual clothes, move from your comfy chair or meet actual humans in real 'what are you looking at' judgey life.
I can oooo and aahhh, laugh and relate or sigh and contemplate the blogged about post all while wearing my nightgown, drinking coffee and jotting down items on my grocery list.
Reading other blogs gives me insights into the outside world without any risk.
Until....the blog is over and the comment section is in my face.
I break out in a panic.
I panic because I seriously consider writing a comment every dadgum time, but the only things that come floating through my little gray cells are ultimately moronic and vapid.
After reading a few of the 908 other posted comments to find out if I actually got the gist of the post, as it was intended, I find that most of the comments are incredibly witty, funny, privy to some inside joke, caring and creative.
Sometimes there are no comments yet and the blogger might never again type a post if someone doesn't say something, anything.
Either way, I am totally intimidated.
Why would I want to leave a comment?
What in all of the universe makes me want to do that?
Does the whole interweb need to know I totally missed the point?
If I leave a comment, have I created a blog traffic jam and a disservice to mankind because now the creative blogger who is momentarily reading my demented comment has less time to work on their next inspired post?
Do I think that by leaving a comment, it will make me a part of a group, an inner circle or a secret society?
Perhaps after reading my comment the blogger and I will become besties?
Am I thinking that my 2 sentences are so profound that lives will be changed?
Can't I just be entertained and move on?
Why would I think that everyone needs to know what I think about the situation?
What is wrong with me?
But...isn't leaving a comment a form of affirmation and validation?
A way to encourage the blogger to keep writing?
A brief, positive assurance that the blogger should keep blogging?
So it would seem.
Sounds easy but the stress of possibly leaving a worthy comment makes me crazy.
Leaving a comment on a blog post is necessary, in a small way, but only for the brave, the young and the fearless.
I rarely leave a comment.
Very, very rarely.
Even if I love the post.
Which means that when I sometimes DO post a comment, you can correctly assume that there was excessive sugar, exhaustion or wine involved.
When my actual comment has been posted I spend the next hour wishing I had said something else or changed out a word plus another hour kicking myself for putting my quirky thoughts out for the world to see anyway and the next hour swearing that I will never leave another comment again...ever.
Like Mark Twain once or twice said, "Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt."
I never leave any doubt.
I love and admire the comments on other blog posts and even on my own blog...when I get them...(hint, hint)
But those comments are there because it seems that other people don't have to deal with the same comment phobia that I go through.
Maybe.
Maybe some do.
But I'm pretty sure they aren't going to comment on it.
Life is hard.
So are comments.
I need a nap.
"Sheesh, my blog comment was absurd. I'm gonna to nap immediately and try to forget."
Thanks for being here.
