Adventures in Life--Living Out Loud

Recently got hooked on a knitblog called Crazy Aunt Purl. She's witty and funny and has chronicled the journey as she went through a divorce and a re-birth of her life, including her readers in her voyage of discovery to find herself. In doing so, she has helped others recognize and understand things in their lives, served as an example and a ground-breaker for those of us who are following her on this trek, and as an indicator of progress for those who trod this path before her. Sometimes she's spit-tea-on-your-monitor funny, sometimes sad, sometimes poigniant, often insightful, and she has cats and knits, too! What's not to love?

I've been very intrigued by her technique of "living out loud"--putting what's she's going through right out there in front of God and everybody, the good, the bad and the drunken. It's a brave way to be, and not one I've ever considered, but reading along with her adventures and ups and downs has given me new insights on myself. She is very asute and painfully honest, and I'm starting to think that this might be a better way to live.

As it turns out, CAP and I live very close to one another, but, rather than track her down and invite myself to her next party, I thought I would take the less-stalker-like approach and try meeting her at the West Hollywood Stitch and Bitch, which she attends on a frequent basis. Though I'm usually busy on Thursday nights, which is when they meet, my shrink was out of town last week, and that gave me the opportunity to finally meet Laurie and tell her how much I've enjoyed her blog.

An interesting thing happened, though: I got kind of shy, thinking about going to meet folks that I had read about on CAP and leary of meeting a whole group of new people. Since I regularly go to science fiction conventions where I know few, if any, folks, it kind of surprised me that I would feel this way. But, in trying to describe the difference to a friend, I said of SF cons, "Well, but they weren't really strangers; they were family I hadn't met yet."

So, I am left with two different revelations: SF fandom is my family, the one I've chosen, warts and all, for myself and for my future. And second, I can, and should, reach out to people, and to life, break out of the safe/known worlds and into uncertainty and possibility.