Observations

I just finished reading my blog list through for the morning. I have almost 40 sites that I visit regularly. Some are family related, but most are complete strangers. I prefer sites that update often, but some are ones that are worth the wait. I find my addiction to these sites quite facinating. Why am I so eager to read them - sometimes multiple times a day?

I have always enjoyed the stories that give insight into people's minds and daily lives. One of the reasons I like Stephen King's writing so much is that he really focuses on the little things that make his characters seem real. We know what they are doing, the reasoning behind it, and their thoughts at the time. I get really hooked on this information.

I have often thought that if I had a slightly less developed sense of right and wrong I would spend all my time peeping in people's windows at night, crouched outside with a drinking glass pressed up against the door. I am intensely curious about the conversations people have while I'm not around, not so much because they might be talking about me, but because I like to know the secrets that they have. I would probably have made a great CIA agent. Or perhaps I should contact the White House and offer up my services for the Homeland Security folks.

Instead, I read blogs. The underlying theme to my bloglist is that of humor, intensity, and personal insight. These authors hold the good, the bad, and the ugly of their lives up to the light for inspection and I am more than happy to squeeze in there next to them, getting my peek. From them I have learned that life is all about the mundane, the everyday, the common, with a splash of excitement from time to time, adding just the right flavor.

My blogsurfing provides me with so many moments - the "Wow, I'm Glad That's Not My Life" moments, the "Wait - You've Been Through That Too?" moments, and the "I Can't Wait Until That Happens To Me" moments. It is these moments that help me frame my own life. We recognize things through comparisons to others, and life is no different. We're all asking ourselves, "Is my life bigger/faster/cleaner/safer/louder/longer/happier than the ones of those around me?" Once we know that, we know where we stand and can chart our path.

So, when I sit down each day to observe the paths of people I have never met (and most likely never will), I am doing more than just Peeping. I'm learning. Or maybe this is all just an elaborate justification for sitting on my ass in front of the computer when I should be vacuuming. Either way, I'm enjoying it.