http://michelleglauser.blogspot.com/2009/09/yes-you-may-read-my-thesis-but-you-dont.html

Thanks for writing!

Someone mentioned cut the small talk and get to the real stuff. In the physical world I feel trapped in by circumstances into too much small talk and crave getting to the heart of it. That’s what I can do when I write and to share it in a blog frees it from myself and invites others to share in that thought process I’m having.

The other question I wanted to respond to, When given the choice, do our words and pictures frame our true reality, or rather, how we want others to see us?

While I cannot speak for any others, I think my words and pictures frame the woman I am becoming. Writing them down and sharing them is the first steps in acknowledging the direction of my pursuit. I have been blogging for a year and have seen how my desire to illuminate the everyday has given voice to that part of the woman in me I want to become and and now I can say that I am her.

There are a myriad of personal and universal thoughts threading down the page, and bead by bead, comment by comment, the reasons we blog feel healthy and breed a sort of wellness. I do think the Segullah forum gives a safe frame for women to really share their hearts. Perhaps at one point or another, we have all felt lonely during the three-hour block, or in our own communities, and why this forum creates a sense of well-being is because believing is the bedrock.

My life has changed in the last month or so because of blogging. We have a new Saturday night ritual—Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip bread. Soul food at its best. I found the recipe on a neighbor’s blog.
Because of the post on love and marriage earlier this week, I have greater empathy and understanding for other women and their marriages. I have also been living with a new
Because of blog writing, I now harvest the small moments and don’t take them for granted. And like many of you, the words are a way to hold still so that I don’t forget who I used to be, and who I am today. Rather than simply surviving, I am now living.

To read how other women live their days, and particularly how they live the gospel, waters down my soul. So I thank you for your words and truths. I am so grateful.

Now I share the fun things my kids do, the humor I find in motherhood, and the struggles of my daily life. I am able to put my feelings into words, and have other women identify with them. I’ve made sincere, close friends.

I continually struggle with finding the balance in my life, particularly when it comes to things I do for myself (blogging and reading, mostly.) I’m always checking my priorities. My family and responsibilities as a mother come first, but blogging has become my way to rejuvenate. Between the creating of posts and the strengthening of friendships, I often come away from blogging replenished, ready to be a better mother and wife.