Ok...I'm doing it...Without even much understanding or experience in blogging (I can never seem to even GET to my good friends' blogsites without them walking me there each time) I am deciding to BLOG. I made this decision...oh, about 10 minutes ago...for several reasons.
1. I love transparency. I have this innate desire to be real and authentic and desire to be all the more this way. I want to be a person who is genuinely ME despite who I am around, and what they may bring out it me. For too much of my life I have been affected by the "fear of man"...too concerned with what others have thought of me. I've been disgusted by the way I have altered myself at times, even subtly, "becoming" someone I thought others would want me to be. This has gradually changed over the years, but I truly want to kill that trait, tendency, whatever...once and for all. This seems like a good way to do it.
2. Accountability. I once heard Zig Ziglar say that you should tell EVERYONE your "give up" goals, and very few your "go up" goals....(or something like that...it was a long time ago) But the essence of it stuck with me. Makes sense. I have a big "give up goal" and by putting it out there, I hope to gain the resolve...and encouragement...I need to make it. In short, it is high time I get serious about changing my life and losing my excess poundage. Funny how it all creeps up on you. I'll write more about this later, but part of my "burden to blog" is to put my journey out there so I'll stay on it....please help me along the way!
3. For the Record...I'm calling this "Draper Capers" because Andrew and I years ago committed to "do life" WITH our kids..."Drapers do life together" is what we resolved, and like Bailey, our oldest, commented several years ago, "Our life is really an adventure, isn't it?" And it has been. We may look like your typical American family in many ways, but God has called us to "do life different" a lot...We don't seem to get by with making "normal" choices, or even logical ones at times...Yet God has been with us...breathed on us, and we have enjoyed His favor. He is our source of creativity and our "Adventure Guide" and we try to follow His leading as best as our flawed nature allows us to...or chooses to, I should say. We are so far from perfect, but through this blog I hope to create a record of my precious family, the amazing things they say and their "way."
4. For the Craft...I love words and I love writing. I was once at a playwriting conference where Buzz McKight said that a writer should write every day, even if just one sentence. I don't, and have been plagued by that comment ever since. I thought this would be a good discipline. I always write just how I think...with the exception of my "rhyming" children's books...Don't ALWAYS think in rhyme, though I do LOVE it so! Whether writing as you think is good writing or not, I do not know, but for now, I remain conversational in style...probably why I enjoy playwriting so much.
So there you have it...To blog or not to blog? I think I shall...and I hope you are humored, encouraged, and will encourage me back along the way... Dar Draper :)
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Nice first post...I know you will enjoy blogging. I really enjoy having the outlet! Hope all is well. Dawn
ReplyDeleteYou know I will be a faithful follower and will share my heart with you always, along the way! This will be our new way of "sharing and praying on the rooftop". . . and it will have to do until we get to be together again! Loving you! DebDeb
ReplyDeleteAbout point 1: This is a good desire and is one that more people than you know deal with. I think one way to turn this around is to look at it this way; you are able understand and relate to all types of people, so much so that you can feel the way they feel and relate to them in their own terms. The trick is to continue to be you, while ministering to those needs you see in others. Don't be disgusted with yourself, though. Celebrate who you are, and when you feel yourself slipping into the skin of someone else, just slip back into YOU and move on!
ReplyDeletePoint 2: Wow; you're courageous to just say it out there! But we all struggle with this or other similar "weights" that we need to shake off. I love that saying by Zig. So many times we do abundantly the first part, telling everyone our "go-up" goals, and then tell very few our "give-up" goals. What if we became accountable to both kinds? We would probably get a lot more accomplished. Of course, you have never had a problem going after your dreams! That's one reason I love you so much. You are not afraid to find out what God has planned for you and then go after it. ...SO INSPIRING! What if we look at it like this? God's great, magnificent, and awesome plans for our lives include those "give-up" goals, too. And the outcome will be just as exciting if we accomplish the overcoming of these things and remain obedient to Him in what He asks of us, knowing that He is trying to get us to a beautiful place that we also want to be!
Point 3: This paragraph just got me so excited! I love the philosophy of your family. You are such an inspiration to other families. Your life with your family is truly and adventure and I am glad I have been able to be just a small part of it. I think all families should take on this thought process about "doing life" together. I love that Bailey has experienced it to such a degree that she commented to you on in. What insight from a young girl! She is truly a gift and a blessing and a proclaimer of truth!
Point 4: Write, write, right! {I see you sitting at a desk with your quill in hand, writing...I see books on university shelves, libraries, and bookstores, plays written by Dar Draper...} As Nike says, "Just Do It!" A poem of my own for you: Use your gift every day, use it to love, and use it to play! Don't be condemed, it's not too late, it's time to begin to walk in your fate. Seeing you follow your dream and write your children's books has inpired me to follow my own dreams of every kind. I wrote my first children's book this summer for a class. It is called, "What's in Miss Hazel's Bag?" I'll bring it when I come.
For now, that is my comment and my encouragement. I am so glad you have found yet another way to use your own gifts and talents to bless the world and to discover the blessing that you are to others in a new way as your loved ones, friends, family, and others blog with you and give you encouragement in your journey. I can't wait to visit and to spend time with the "Swiss Family Robinson" of the Concord area!
Love you and your family much,
Hazel
Hazeleze....You brought tears to my eyes! YOU are a writer, my friend! I love you SO much. Thank you for every word...I am encouraged. I LOVE your little poem too...LOVE that! Thanks for the wisdom as well. You KNOW how dear your are to me and my whole family...and you are a BIG part of our lives! :) Can't wait to see you when you come!
ReplyDeleteReading this, I was reminded of the similar character traits we share, Dar. I, too, crave to be transparent and "real" and have others accept me...warts and all. lol Unfortunately, life's experiences have proven that there is but One who accepts us "just as we are" - as we grow from faith to faith.
ReplyDeleteI grew up as a people pleaser and struggled with that issue most of my life, even in my early Christian walk. That is, until the Lord confronted me with a dynamic truth many years ago. It doesn't matter whom we please, if we displease the Lord, and it doesn't REALLY matter whom we displease, as long as we please Him. For many years now, I've lived by that revelation.
And...I am very much a "word" person, as well. I love the written, spoken, and sung word and can be greatly affected by it. That's why I try to make a conscious effort to my own words a "sweet savor" to others. ;)
Love,
Liz