Love and Art: A Letter

Dear Lady On The Radio (who said, "All blogs, especially mom blogs, and the women who write them should go away"):

Well, shoot.

I am a mom.  I write a blog.  And I'm actually pretty nice.

I don't claim to have all the answers.  I certainly don't tell my readers how to parent.  I don't profess to be even close to perfect.  Honestly, I'd rather eat the cookies currently baking in my oven.

But here's the thing...

I know many bloggers; incredible women and mothers who write, create, cook, sew, parent, and paint.  They boldly share their talents in a very public, very vulnerable way, on this complex beast we call, "The Internet."  It is not easy to do.  It takes work.  It takes gumption.  It takes passion.  And it takes courage.

Yet these bloggers do it.  They muster the courage to face the criticism, and they offer their readers a small and precious piece of themselves.  Why?  Because they love their art.  They care wholeheartedly about what they do.  (It was Chuck Klosterman who said, "Love and art is the same."  I believe that!)  That doesn't need to "go away," Radio Lady, that needs to be commended.

Absolutely, you are entitled to your own opinion, and you have every right to "feel what you feel."  I only wished to shed some light on the "other side of the story," and to remind you that there are faces behind those home pages.  Real women with real hopes and real fears.  Real women who long for connection and joy, as I'm sure you do.  (It's universal AND human!)  Real women who love their kids and seek after their well-being.  Real women creating something real.

The novelist, Kurt Vonnegut, wrote:  "The arts are a very human way of making life more bearable.  Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake.  Sing in the shower.  Dance to the radio.  Tell stories.  Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem.  Do it as well as you possibly can.  You will get an enormous reward.  You will have created something."

As we follow Vonnegut's magnificent admonition to "create something," we can look to our hearts, cultivate our strengths, dispel hurtful weaknesses, and create a better space in the world.  One of openness and respect.  What about compassion?  What about empathy?  With time, patience, effort, and prayer, we can create those things within ourselves, too.

We are all worthy of reverence...
Mothers.
Artists.
Bloggers.
Women.

Oh!  That's the oven timer!  The cookies are done.

Sincerely,
Mama Leisha, a blogger