The Morning Muse

Okay, I’ve done it–like 99% of bloggers, I can’t resist the siren song of blogging about blogging. But this post is also going to go in TMM’s About section, and so I think it’s more than a meta post. I want to tell you, reader, why I am showing up here authentically but not under my legal name.

For me, it’s a little about keeping my private and public lives separate. I think as an authentic lifestyle blog, TMM is and is going to be a place where I want to share the good, the bad, and the ugly. I want to share the journey and not just the peaks, so I know there’s going to be messy posts and raw emotions on these pages.

I’m going to share hobbies, experiences, opinions and emotions when I have them, knowing these things may change. I may change my mind, and that I am not perfect. And I know that if I were blogging under my legal name, knowing that with one swift search loved ones and coworkers could have access to this website, I would need to use an extra personal filter. It just wouldn’t be as authentic.. I’d think twice, and three times about posting, and there are things I might choose not to post at all out of a desire to manage my public perception.

This is especially of concern to me because my sales career so far has been very people-facing. It’s all about building relationships and meeting people. It’s a part of my life I want to be able to share about comfortably because I know that through the years of working in this field, I have gathered a lot of nuggets of wisdom. I also have a lot of personal feelings about sales (often negative ones–I’d love to enter a different field). I want to be able to share all that openly and without concern for repercussion!

But most of all, I just want to do this in private. I had someone ask me once whether I write under a pen name because I am ashamed of what I am doing. I was taken aback and a little offended at the time… What is there to be offended about? Why would I be sharing it with them if I was offended? Later, I realized why it might look that way if I am hiding my name. Why not proudly share what I am doing? I used to do that when I was younger. But it seems like there was a lot less on the line then–and I wasn’t as private a person.

Maybe it’s because I’m not so sure about what I am doing here yet, I’m just exploring. Maybe I just enjoy the cloak of anonimity that allows me to share on multiple levels without the fear of repercussions. Maybe it’s that I enjoy the sense of a safe little cocoon that this blog has become; no judging eyes, and a place just for me.

One day, I would love to put my name and face on this website. But until I have carved an authentic, independent career path and feel secure in that, I choose to share in this way. But I want to promise you that what you find in these pages is the truth. In fact, the anonimity here doesn’t so much give me a license to change the truth than an opportunity to freely share it.

What do you think about bloggers sharing under a pen name? Do you have strong feelings about it? I personally think there’s no substitute for 100% transparency, even if someone’s reasons for creating that little shield (like mine) are absolutely understandable. When I read Peanut Butter Fingers, for example (it’s one of my favourite blogs), I love that Julie shares everything so openly. I love that I know her family and her–exactly who she actually is. So I would love to offer that here one day.