christmas letters and blogs

"There are two things that make me laugh: blogs and Christmas letters," he smugly began. He proceeded to pontificate about why lonely people choose to spend so much self-absorbed time and resource on these two laughable pastimes.

Christmas letters and blogs. CHRISTMAS LETTERS AND BLOGS... I know what you are thinking if you a know A THING about me. Could any two things scream Abi T more than Christmas letters and blogs?

Perhaps I am deeply and utterly alone. Perhaps I am so self-righteous and so self-absorbed that I must devote an entire web log to myself, another to my family, another to my business and then, as if that wasn't enough of me, then, I find it necessary to tell everybody about it once a year. Perhaps.

Or perhaps not.

With all due respect (oh no, here she goes...), I believe that there is more.

Perhaps for some, there is peace, solace and a healing outlet in the cathartic world of Christmas letters and blogs. Perhaps they offer a means by which to stay meaningfully connected to oneself and to others. Perhaps they are a precursor to community. Perhaps they are the only vehicles by which some are able to expose pieces of themselves and allow themselves to be unveiled because they have been mocked and ridiculed or simply overlooked in the "real" world. Perhaps they are the only reason that some will actually download pictures off their digital cameras. Perhaps some people just need to process. Perhaps they may begin with social commentary that sparks compassionate action and ends with prolific, eternal gain. Perhaps they are the canvas upon which a masterpiece is painted or a timeless epic is drafted. Perhaps they are the person with whom one can share that random, but insanely funny thought he had on the way home. Perhaps they are the means by which a woman can share the testimony of her dying son with tens of thousands of people around the world and proclaim the mighty name and grace and love and mercy of Jesus in a way that it can finally be heard.

Perhaps, kind sir, you are reading the wrong letters and blogs.

Perhaps if you look more closely, you will find story and after meaningful story of struggles and joy, pain and endurance, significance and banality, love and loss. Perhaps you will realize that many people would keep writing whether or not anyone was reading. Perhaps you will encounter a rant or two, or perhaps you will find poetry. Perhaps you will become a part of somebody's story - the legacy of someone who was purposed and fashioned in the image of the master architect, artist, storyteller and blog author. Perhaps you will laugh or perhaps you will cry or perhaps you will find a bit of yourself if you stop laughing and start listening. Perhaps.

Or perhaps not.