Recently I've written way too much about blogging and bloggers. Sorry here is another entry in the same category. If you don't want to read it, you can enjoy a picture from my sailing trip last year.
Last month I saw a post entitled, "I'm tempted to take up mountain climbing" by writer Ayelet Waldman. It was a little frightening as it talked very frankly about mental illness and hinted about Ayelet's own struggles. Ayelet has now stopped blogging and started writing for Salon. I don't read Salon much anymore because of the ads, but I saw a link to Ayelet's first article and I figured it might be interesting, so I clicked.
I read the article from March 14th, 2005 and was chilled to the bone. It turned out that Ayelet's post, this last February was quite a serious cry for help and wasn't simply a factual post about the dangers of suicide with people with a certain class of mental illness. Luckily her close friends and he husband understood the gravity of her February post and found ways to rally around her and help her through a very dark moment.
This was an amazing story to me. I've always joked about my blog being some sort of cry for help or a cry for attention. It's a relief to me to know that if I really did need help that my friends and regular readers might help me. I wonder if I would have the courage to be direct enough that people would understand what I was talking about?
Her recent Salon article got people to write in a lot of letters.
Some were supportive; others criticized her for allowing her children to get dragged into both her mental health struggles and her on-line writing. I have some sympathy for both positions. Courageously telling the truth about the realities of life is extraordinary and beautiful to me. The other side of the coin sports children with all too weak shoulders growing up with the awful weight of wondering if their mother will kill herself or write an article about their next tantrum or misdeed. It's repugnant to me that children would have to bear the weight of the struggles and issues of adult life. The struggles of life will come uninvited to them all too soon, isn't it possible to shield them for a while?
In the end I'm just glad Ayelet made it through that episode and we still can enjoy her writing.
I'm also glad that my friends might read my posts and come to my aid if required.
Last month I saw a post entitled, "I'm tempted to take up mountain climbing" by writer Ayelet Waldman. It was a little frightening as it talked very frankly about mental illness and hinted about Ayelet's own struggles. Ayelet has now stopped blogging and started writing for Salon. I don't read Salon much anymore because of the ads, but I saw a link to Ayelet's first article and I figured it might be interesting, so I clicked.
I read the article from March 14th, 2005 and was chilled to the bone. It turned out that Ayelet's post, this last February was quite a serious cry for help and wasn't simply a factual post about the dangers of suicide with people with a certain class of mental illness. Luckily her close friends and he husband understood the gravity of her February post and found ways to rally around her and help her through a very dark moment.
This was an amazing story to me. I've always joked about my blog being some sort of cry for help or a cry for attention. It's a relief to me to know that if I really did need help that my friends and regular readers might help me. I wonder if I would have the courage to be direct enough that people would understand what I was talking about?
Her recent Salon article got people to write in a lot of letters.
Some were supportive; others criticized her for allowing her children to get dragged into both her mental health struggles and her on-line writing. I have some sympathy for both positions. Courageously telling the truth about the realities of life is extraordinary and beautiful to me. The other side of the coin sports children with all too weak shoulders growing up with the awful weight of wondering if their mother will kill herself or write an article about their next tantrum or misdeed. It's repugnant to me that children would have to bear the weight of the struggles and issues of adult life. The struggles of life will come uninvited to them all too soon, isn't it possible to shield them for a while?
In the end I'm just glad Ayelet made it through that episode and we still can enjoy her writing.
I'm also glad that my friends might read my posts and come to my aid if required.
Thanks for letting me know what had happened to Ayelet Waldman. I read her blog from time to time but hadn't looked at it for a while. As a parent and blogger, I can understand some of her struggles. I am glad she got help. As we blog sometimes we reveal to ourselves what is happening in our lives and we also can reveal to others what we need.