Be My Guest

The Daily Post had an interesting entry on being a good host.  Not in your physical house, but here in your blog.  Each person’s page is like a building, or perhaps rooms in a building, and how we, as ‘hosts’ furnish these rooms will say a lot about how we want (or don’t want!) to interact with those who visit.

Some blogs are like libraries, please keep your voices down but feel free to browse at your leisure.

Some blogs are like art galleries, delighting the senses and making us think, or smile, or sometimes even cry – evoking nostalgia, inspiration and wonder.

Some blogs are like newspaper stands, filling us with information, catchy headlines, sensational stories and the occasional tabloid article.  We enjoy the voyeuristic peek into someone else’s life, and we browse through furtively so as not to draw too much attention to ourselves.

I really don’t want to be any of these.

A library is too quiet and solitary.

A gallery is polished, finished works.

And a newsstand is far too flashy and loud.

I want to be a living room, with a tea service on the coffee table, and fresh made cookies, inviting you in to sit and stay and enjoy a pleasant conversation.

My stories aren’t finished pieces… for the most part.  They’re whatever I spit out that day.  My art is my exploration.  My recipes usually aren’t even recipes.

I’m not always adept* at conversation, but I want to welcome any one of you who visits to feel as though you can tell me what you didn’t like.  What character did you just hate.  What painting just fell flat?  What recipe was just awful?

Yes, each one comes down to personal opinion, and while yours may be different than mine, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to throw myself at your feet and say *give me feedback on my stuff!*  Just giving you this invitation that if you had felt so inclined as to leave perhaps less flattering and more critical comments, but feared the reaction, know that they are always welcome.  If you do have constructive feedback, I am in sore need of people who are good at giving it!

So please, feel free to make yourself comfortable on the couch, please excuse the cat hair, and speak whatever is on your mind.  I’d like to have a dialogue, not just a monologue (I don’t like my own voice enough to speak just to hear myself).

🙂

[*read: I suck at]