This afternoon’s heartattack
I can’t even remember how the topic came up, I think that part of my brain went black after the synapses started misfiring. All I remember is hanging out after a meeting and Maria saying, “Let’s see how you show up in Google.”
As Maria’s fingers tapped across the keyboard getting ever closer to my secret, I started clutching at my chest screaming “Here’s I come Elizabeth, it’s the big one.” That’s just what I wanted to do. Instead I said, “I’m not sure you want to do that. I have a pretty big Google footprint.”
“Let’s see here.” She peered at her laptop, reading the screen. “Amazon, Amazon, hrm, I Will Dare?”
“Yep,” I tried to keep my voice from shaking and my face from burning. “That’s my blog.”
“Oh?” she asked and arched her eyebrow.
And I spilled my guts, much like the last time I came out of the blog closet. I told her about starting it and about how candid and honest I am. I told her about starting the Vox so my family had a place they could read and paulwesterberg.net because I am a nerd.
Then came the good part. I told her about how much anxiety I had over how iwilldare.com will impact my job search. She listened and helped alleviate some of my fears.
“You’re thinking about it now,” she said. “That’s a good thing.”
And I am thinking about it now. In fact it’s all I’ve been thinking about. I am not ashamed of I Will Dare. I love it and think it’s a great writing exercise. It’s opened many doors and my mind.
However, I am not sure how potential employers will view it. Is I Will Dare a boon or a bonus? Will people even care?
How do you bloggers deal with your blogs when it comes up at your place of employment? Have you ever had to deal with it while interviewing for a job? Could I ask anymore questions?
It’s come up at my place of employment a few times: once when a student googled me while I stood behind him and my blog popped up. He said, “Is this you?” I said “No.” He said, “But it’s an English teacher. Who’s single. Who owns your dog.” Because I had a picture of the dog on there. That was a coronary event.
The second time was when I posted the name of a student who had died and 400 students/parents checked out my blog in a single afternoon. That was a stroke I’m still not sure I’ve recovered from.
The third and final time was when I was called into the principal’s office and shown a copy of my blog. No biggie. I said “Yep, it’s the blog. Love it or leave it.”
Moral of the story: it gets better with practice.
10 Jan 08 at 11:59 pm #Not so much employment-wise, but I most certainly have had to explain myself on the relationship front. That could explain why I have a phobia to committing to just one site for posting.
11 Jan 08 at 12:00 am #If my online escapades are going to keep me from getting a certain position, it’s not one I would want anyway.
11 Jan 08 at 1:47 pm #when i had one it always held me back (writing-wise). i a) didn’t want people to know who i was in real life and b) didn’t want to write things that were too personal because of (a) and my job.
and it completely freaked me out when my parents discovered my weblog.
11 Jan 08 at 6:52 pm #What did your parents say?
11 Jan 08 at 7:00 pm #write it loud and write it proud! it would be a shame if someone with a extraordinary artistic talent like yours was ever suppressed.
11 Jan 08 at 7:25 pm #Yeah, but are you gonna pay the mortgage?
11 Jan 08 at 7:28 pm #you’ll be much happier doing something that feeds your soul than your pocket
11 Jan 08 at 7:51 pm #paulie/yoda
I am going to be totally unhappy if I end up homeless!
11 Jan 08 at 8:03 pm #i’m sorry. my bag. sellout. join the national guard. rob a 7-11. become a telemarketer. marry some rich old dude. be a prostitute. work at walmart. sell crack. write pop songs. be on a reality show.
11 Jan 08 at 8:29 pm #welfare. get rear ended and collect. trip in a parking lot and settle out of court……etc.
Are you rich and old?
11 Jan 08 at 10:00 pm #they liked the writing, but it made me want to make sure i was clean - can’t have mommy and daddy thinking i am a bad boy or anything. stupid parent/child relationships.
11 Jan 08 at 10:15 pm #iwilldare.com’s pretty clean, isn’t it?
11 Jan 08 at 10:18 pm #I Will dare is not just a blog, it is an individual’s experiment in new media, one that serves to further your continuing self-education and perpetuate the brand of yourself.
11 Jan 08 at 10:53 pm #I need to hire you as my manager.
11 Jan 08 at 11:03 pm #clean? ummm … yes?
12 Jan 08 at 1:51 pm #There is no talk of orgies or anything. Totally clean!
12 Jan 08 at 1:57 pm #Your blog is MUCH “safer” than any one I’ve ever had. Until my little meltdown, I’d never been ashamed of it - even at its worst. It’s who I am and it’s who I used to be. If you don’t like the blog, you don’t like me. It’s kind of simple. It’s not an easy philosophy, but its how I’ve always chosen to blog.
You have a voice. Use it. Be unafraid.
12 Jan 08 at 9:35 pm #