How Deep is Your Blog?

I've long been on the fence over the issue of how personal a blog should be as I read a diverse mixture myself - everything from issue based political blogs to lifestyle - but another question occurred to me recently; is my blog frivolous? As I posted yet another selection of thrifted/vintage finds at the weekend I did find myself wondering whether I should be using this platform of self expression for a nobler purpose or championing a cause of some kind, and does the fact I love photographing and writing about the pretty things make me shallow? I looked back over posts from the last few months and couldn't find one among them that was indicative of my opinions on current affairs - the Iraq war, economic policy, the NHS Bill, tuition fee protests, the census and it's effect on privacy - I have fairly strong views on all of it and much, much more besides but if you didn't know me personally before you visited Beautiful Clutter you would never know. Twitter followers may have caught occasional tweets about whatever Guardian/Times/Independent article or local issue has put a bee in my bonnet that week but I never tend to go into too much depth.

As bloggers and readers we all seek something different from our experience with blogs, I think for many of us blogging is a creative outlet slotted into an otherwise busy life or a form of escapism, somewhere to disappear for an hour and melt away into the grass-is-greener aspects of someone else's life. I don't know about you but there have been moments when I've emerged from a lifestyle blog binge in a free hour with a little cloud of guilt hovering overhead feeling as though I'm somehow letting the side down. Up pop the rhetorical questions: Does it really matter how pretty a bunch of peonies look arranged in a Bonne Maman jar tied with the ribbon recycled from an expertly wrapped gift? Shouldn't I be channeling my energy into informative-but-wryly-humourous posts bursting with thoughtful commentary on dealing with anxiety, opinions on the ethics of mass produced goods and child labour or the fight to make clean water available to all? This is when I put the kettle on, cradle a steaming cup of tea and try to fathom where the guilt comes from.

As the only female student in my A-level Politics class I was in the habit of getting into the thick of it when it came to debates on almost every issue - particularly those affecting women - I felt as though it was my responsibility to represent my own gender in the midst of an overdose of testosterone and to do as good a job of that as possible. It always came as something of a surprise to me how many of my female friends were disinterested in current affairs and yet now I find that I'm almost going the same way. Fast forward to age 26 and the last time I watched the news was about a fortnight ago, I haven't picked up a paper in over a month and seem to be getting most of my daily news from BBC and Guardian tweets. True, it is difficult not to feel disheartened by rising unemployment, a constant shadow of economic gloom and yet more revelations of corruption in the powers that be. It can't be denied though that it IS important to know what is going on outside your own bubble.

Here comes the 'but' part of the somewhat jumbled ramble; why NOT celebrate simple pleasures, little things that bring bursts of happiness and end up as the highlights of our day? Someone commented on my tent post recently that: 'the reason so many ''grown-ups'' are boring sods is that they'd just never think to do stuff like this even if they had the urge to' and to some extent I agree. I just enjoy using my little corner of the web to share a few of the bits I love and indulge a passion for old things which isn't shared by many of the people who are close to me in my 'real' life. Perhaps I don't write heartfelt tomes about the negative aspects of my life or share many of my struggles and so could be classed as a fair weather blogger who doesn't show you the untidy box room. I'll freely admit that I like to take as positive an approach as possible to what I blog, and I don't get up on my soapbox too often either but that doesn't mean I lack conviction. Maybe I've been mulling it all over too much and shouldn't beat myself up for appreciating lovely pictures and flights of fancy.


At this point I'm really interested in hearing some of your views - are you a fellow gratuitous snapper of pretty things? What do you like to get out of blogging and reading blogs? Are picture heavy blogs all a little airy-fairy to you or do you think it is important to escape once in a while?


{Note the lack of any pictures in this post ;-}