Blogger's Bounty: A Tale of the Self Absorbed

Why is that blogs and bloggers seem so self absorbed? Me, me, mine, my point of view, all about me...it drives me nuts. Sure there are cooking blogs and gardening blogs and parent blogs, but when you distill all blogs down to their purest essence, they are about the blogger.

I've never considered myself self absorbed. I don't like to look deep within myself. I prefer to give advise than take it. I find it difficult to be selfish or even for myself. I'm not saying I'm Mother Theresa or Gandhi or Santa Claus, I'm just not as comfortable about proclaiming my "coolness" as most of the bloggers I follow are.

(You know who you are. Then again, you are too self absorbed to read MY blog.)

Am I shallow? Or prideful or similarly flawed? Of course I am. Do I contemplate my navel trying to discover my "true self". Um, no. Not now, not ever.

I don't read Dr. Wayne Dwyer either. Self help and self loathing are too closely aligned in my mind.

Maybe it's the peasant stock gene kicking in. Ye olde pull yourself up by the boot straps syndrome. I am firmly convinced that it is just as easy to work out a problem weeding flower beds as it is in a formal meditation class. And don't dismiss the healing powers of a nice long soak in the tub. There's a lot to be said for Calgon. Seriously, have you ever heard of anyone suffering a Calgon hangover after a good soak? Sure beats crying in your beer. Ok, so sometimes you start to look like a prune, but no biggie, really.

What prompted this rant? I met an old friend for dinner the other night. There was a time a few years ago we were thick as thieves. We went on a few dates and discovered we made better friends than lovers. I value my friend's opinion, he's not one to blow smoke up your skirt. We spent some time relieving the past and catching each other up on what's new. At one point my friend turned to me and ask when I had become so self absorbed.

I was stunned into silence. That's huge, as I am one of those people that prattles on endlessly about nothing when I am nervous. I read once small people talk about other people, big people talk about ideas. I've become one of the little people, self absorbed and small minded.

Yikes!

Self absorbed? Me? Really?

I guess I better pick up a pallet of Bounty on my next trip to Costco... and the new Wayne Dwyer book.