Women Bloggers
April 27, 2004
I'm old enough to remember when women joggers were an anomalie. What were they thinking? Out there on the jogging paths in their lycra and short shorts, breaking a sweat, squinting into the six a.m. sun? I can relate...there was a time, some years ago, when that was me. I rose at 5, slipped hastily into tights, shorts, and a T-shirt, spent ten minutes stretching, moving muscles still wrapped in the warmth of sleep, then ran out the door and down the road--off to have a bit of quiet time before the children tumbled out of bed and the hectic day began.
I ran not because it gave me runner's euphoria--my brother-in-law, a diehard Boston marathon man, runs for the euphoria. I ran to stay in shape, and to think. Life was not going the way I wanted it to go. I was trapped in Alice's Looking Glass, able to see the future before me distorted by the realities of Fate controlling my existence, and I didn't like what I saw. Running gave me a half an hour a day to contemplate the vision in the looking glass. To push beyond my frowning image, to squint, stare, concentrate really, really, hard on the blurred images beyond my physical self. Images of the tomorrows waiting for me. Of children growing up and leaving home. Of a life that dictated I do one thing, when I so desperately wanted to do another.
Running gave me focus and release. I credit those hundreds of cool mornings with clearing my head. The thoughts churning within my brain finally led me to college, where I studied Creative Writing, was inducted into two honor societies and finally, finally, found my place in life. All those crisp, sunlit mornings jogging around the sleepy neighborhood, waving to the garbage men as they went about their work, gave me more than good legs. They gave me the power to change my life.
Blogging is changing women's lives, also. All over the world. In searching for a topic for today's blog, discarding ideas on the floor in a heap-- too bland, too boring, too normal, too drippy, too stupid, too full of poo-poo (pardon my slang)--I decided to visit other women's blogs and see what kinds of things were circulating around the net. I decided to visit places I'd never been before an activity I highly recommend.
As I jogged along on this digital journey, I came across an article written in the BBC News, in June of 2002. "Web gives a voice to Iranian women," the headline read. This news story was so now, despite its date of almost two years ago, I devoured it eagerly, rejoicing in the lines that said, "Contrary to expectation, the internet in Iran is not censored." And, from one woman blogger who was interviewed, "It is social issues mostly."
Further investigation led me to other sites devoted to the woman's word in blogging. At The Written Word Blog I was led to a NY Daily News article "I am woman, hear me blog," that was alive with women's thoughts and experiences, with the kind of sharing I talk about in my book, and discuss at speaking engagements. The NY Daily News article said it marvelously, "Men ruled the blog world early on (that is, about three years ago), but women are quickly catching up, finding the ability to write uncensored thoughts to the masses more liberating than a 1970s bra-burning parade."
Ah. The twin worlds of jogging and blogging. Jogging to compose our thoughts, clear our minds, focus our message; and blogging, to get online and share it with an eager world of sisters waiting to hear from us. End to end, country to country, world to world. Isn't the web a wonderful thing? Blog on, ladies.
What's not to like about that?
I'm finding that my blog is a wonderful early morning brain exercise to prepare me for a day of more utilitarian writing. I wish I had discovered blogging sooner!
Posted by: Jane | April 28, 2004 at 12:20 PM
Thanks for the good read. Unfortunately I am finding that I am replacing time I used to spend jogging with blogging ;-)
Posted by: Evelyn Rodriguez | April 27, 2004 at 09:55 PM