A funny thing happened when I started blogging.
I thought I couldn’t be funny.
I mean, my blog is called Left Brain Buddha.
Those are some serious words. And I wanted to be taken seriously. And when I think of the Buddha, I envision this:
He looks pretty serious.
But isn’t the Buddha also this?
Ah, yes, the laughing Buddha!
{photo credit: Rammy Storm via photopin cc}
Some of my most popular posts are the funny ones. Like this post about the moments of parenting that make me really want to use the F-word. Or my most recent post about my glamorous mom fashion.
But I still get nervous when I publish something that’s mainly funny and frivolous. Will people who “liked” my blog because I write about meditation and mindfulness and Buddhism be put off by a post about me in my sweatpants? Will people who follow me because I write about motherhood be offended that I sometimes drop an F-bomb? Will people think I’m being too flippant about the things that matter most in life? Am I still being “mindful and thought-full”?
{Have I ever mentioned that I tend to over-analyze things?}
I’m comforted by the words of my education professor, who once told us, “Jesus couldn’t reach them all, what makes you think you can?”
In a few months, I will have been blogging for one year. In that time, I have gained many followers and lost a few. I’ve had lots of wonderful comments from amazing supporters, and a few not-so-nice comments from meanies people who help me practice compassion.
I can’t be everything to all people. So let me tell you what I will be. Let me share with you what you can expect when you’re reading Left Brain Buddha.
Here’s an excerpt from the mission statement I wrote when I started this blog. This is what I envisioned my site would be, and what it would do for my readers and for me:
My blog is an informative, reflective, and encouraging site for analytical, “left-brain” thinkers who love the life of the mind, and also strive to live and parent mindfully and intentionally.
My blog stimulates the intellect by exploring the extraordinary and awe-inspiring ideas and insights found in literature and the world’s wisdom traditions. I refine my own life practice by contemplating and exploring how this knowledge can be integrated into our bustling and thought-filled lives.
I provide encouragement, humor, and support for parents {mothers} through honestly sharing my personal adventures in mindful living and parenting, portraying the challenges and illuminating the riches of mindfulness and motherhood.
This blog holds me accountable for my own meditation, mindful living and parenting practices. I want to write, to engage my mind, and connect with others. I want to learn, read, write, share, and inform!
I want my blog to be…
Informative. Funny. Deep. Honest. Encouraging.
I hope by coming here you find inspiration, wisdom, and humor as we tame {and sometimes indulge} our overly-rational monkey minds.
You’ll find me writing about the following, because they all inform my mindfulness and parenting practices {listed in reverse alphabetical order}:
- parenting and motherhood
- mindfulness and meditation
- mental health and self-care
- feminism
- Eastern spirituality/Buddhism/secular humanism/atheism
- books and reading
- and the parts of all of the above that just make me laugh
Because laughter is good! Smiling is good! We can’t be serious and rational and left-brain all the time!
Have you heard of the studies where they have people put a pencil in their mouth while they read a story? One group holds the pencil with the eraser portion between their teeth, which simulates a frown. The other group holds the pencil lengthwise between their teeth, which creates a smile. The “smiling” group, though they are not even aware they are smiling, actually like the story better and find it funnier.
Smiling makes us happier.
The hard parts of life are sometimes better when we can just laugh about them. Because sometimes that’s all we can do.
Even with the BigImportantHuge things. Probably most importantly with those things.
We can be Mindful and Thought-full and Smile-ful and Joyful.
Sometimes we need the contemplative Buddha, and sometimes we need the laughing Buddha.
Luckily I’ve got all these guys on my desk to inspire me.
*****
This post is part of the Finish the Sentence Friday linkup. Today’s sentence is “A funny thing happened on the way to…” You can read more posts by clicking the image below!
- A Mindful Approach to New Year’s Resolutions - January 13, 2020
- Just This Next Step - December 16, 2019
- WAIT: A Mindfulness Practice for Waiting in Line - December 9, 2019
