Random Thoughts = Running Commentary

Today, I skimmed a blog in which the blogger talked about the what and why of his blog:
http://www.jrdkirk.com/what-why-of-my-blog/

A nice nugget I took away: A blog is "'web log'", a "running commentary of things I'm reading, thinking, and processing"

As a non-external processor, it's rather scary to put things in writing in a semi-public way.  I second-guess pretty much every sentence I compose.  For example, from a recent post:

"Today, I realized that I hadn't done any serious reading in a month--and that it was killing me"

As soon as I typed the sentence, I thought: What do I mean by "serious reading"?  Do I need to clarify that?

I wrote that sentence in the context of saying that I started skimming blogs again.  (I used to skim at least a blog post a day, but lately I haven't had the patience.  I've enjoyed watching clips from Dancing with the Stars on YouTube instead).  The lack of influx of ideas was what was killing me.  Are some blogs serious reading and others not, depending on subject matter and quality of writing?

I have been re-reading "To Kill a Mockingbird".  But when I typed the words "serious reading", I didn't factor in Lee Harper's classic because, after having read it every year since high school, it's become something familiar and soothing to me--a type of recreational reading--even though the subject matter is quite serious.

What about a study I'm doing at church on the Book of Daniel?  We're reading lots of scary prophecies right now--is that not "serious reading"?

Blogging is such a weird thing because the process is so private, but the results are open to the public--or at least whomever stops by the blog to take a look.  It actually reminds me of a practice session of a musical instrument.  When I practice, I am alone, and I am in the process of developing my musical self.  But when I practice, the sounds I make are audible, and passerbys will hear a lot of what's going on.

I have always had trouble practicing, and I have a love-hate relationship with music.  My ears are super sensitive and my musical brain is goes into analysis mode anytime I hear Western Classical music.  This means that when I practice the violin, I'm constantly frustrated with my inability to produce the quality of sounds that I would like to hear.  It means that I fight the urge to grimace when an orchestra is not quite in sync during a challenging passage of a symphony.  Even certain radio broadcasts give me adverse physiological reactions, because I don't agree with the artist's interpretation of a particular musical piece.

Teaching music is another matter.  I have a lot of patience for students, and I enjoy helping them overcome challenges during a music lesson.  I tailor my teaching style to fit the student's need, and I communicate with parents so that they become a help rather than a hindrance to their child's musical development.  My students' musical imperfections don't bother me one bit, because I am interacting with those imperfections in a way that empowers improvement.  I could probably start a whole other blog on what I've discovered during my nearly 15 years of being a music teacher...

So back to blogging, and this idea of a "running commentary", and what music has to do with all of this [Note to self, this is not necessarily like the "concluding paragraph" of a term paper in which I must tie together all the ideas presented.  This is (not to belittle it in any way) *merely* the final thought/"commentary" that I will type before ending this blog post] :

Maybe, after 7 years of not practicing my violin on a consistent basis, I should start again. Maybe I can think of practicing the way I think of blogging: it's a work in progress, and the beauty lies in the imperfection.