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Feb. 21st, 2004 04:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
butterflyThere's a bit of the show-off, the egotist, the attention-getter in most lj users, I'd guess. Of course, everyone has moments like that, but we, perhaps, have them more often.
A public journal is a statement to the world - "I'm here - pay attention to me."
We just all have different ways of expressing that need. And it is a need - all living things need care and attention, or they grow up stunted and unhealthy. Posting in lj is a bit like a cat meowing for playtime or a baby crying. Though those aren't terribly nice comparisions, I'll admit. Perhaps a better example would be the peacock, showing off his tailfeathers. Stories, essays, and personal anecdotes are all different varieties of bright shiny feathers.
Still not the most flattering comparision in the world, though.
But it all comes down to seeking attention.
I'll certainly admit that I have my moments. I'm having one right now - hence this post. I'm holding up a glittering ring and hoping that people will flatter and admire the way the colors gleam.
And part of the reason that I'm like that on lj is because I often don't let myself act that way otherwise. I don't hold up the fragile, shimmering gems of my ideas to people in general. Unless I know someone well, I'm very restrained around them - my need to be ultra polite goes deep and I can't counteract it unless I trust that the person knows me well enough to know when not to take me seriously.
This is, I think, why I often identify with the repressed characters. I know why they act as they do (I'm amused by the fact that Fraser's grandparents were librarians, as my mom has a degree in library sciences - being raised by someone who is concerned with the order of things has an effect.). I'm drawn to the controlled ones, the people who bury things deeply, because that's what I do. Those are the people that I set in relation to myself.
A public journal is a statement to the world - "I'm here - pay attention to me."
We just all have different ways of expressing that need. And it is a need - all living things need care and attention, or they grow up stunted and unhealthy. Posting in lj is a bit like a cat meowing for playtime or a baby crying. Though those aren't terribly nice comparisions, I'll admit. Perhaps a better example would be the peacock, showing off his tailfeathers. Stories, essays, and personal anecdotes are all different varieties of bright shiny feathers.
Still not the most flattering comparision in the world, though.
But it all comes down to seeking attention.
I'll certainly admit that I have my moments. I'm having one right now - hence this post. I'm holding up a glittering ring and hoping that people will flatter and admire the way the colors gleam.
And part of the reason that I'm like that on lj is because I often don't let myself act that way otherwise. I don't hold up the fragile, shimmering gems of my ideas to people in general. Unless I know someone well, I'm very restrained around them - my need to be ultra polite goes deep and I can't counteract it unless I trust that the person knows me well enough to know when not to take me seriously.
This is, I think, why I often identify with the repressed characters. I know why they act as they do (I'm amused by the fact that Fraser's grandparents were librarians, as my mom has a degree in library sciences - being raised by someone who is concerned with the order of things has an effect.). I'm drawn to the controlled ones, the people who bury things deeply, because that's what I do. Those are the people that I set in relation to myself.