I love secrets. I love having them, and I love hiding them … I also love keeping the secrets of others. The attractions of secrets are many — there is exclusivity, desire and danger, there can also be comraderie and friendship.
One of my favourite writers, Helene Cixous, often discusses secrets and the need to hide them. She says:
We constantly believe we must repress, forget and bury. Yet this isn’t true. The desire to bury hides a much more twisted desire: Man wants to be seen burying — wants to be discovered in the middle of hiding.
I have loved this quote for years … and it popped into my mind this afternoon while reading this very interesting post that asks "why don’t creatives blog?" (thanks to Jon Howard for this). Some way down in the comments was an admission by Anna, that she DOES in fact blog, but has not, as yet given the address to anyone. That reminded me of Katie, who had been blogging for some time before she finally relented and gave me the URL.
This strange game is very much a part of the process of writing (and therefore blogging). On one hand, we love the idea of blogging only for ourselves, but secretly, there is a desire to be found, blog-handed, writing for others — reaching out to the communities that spring up around our words and ideas.
I have a friend, Tammy, who contributes to many blogs, but does not yet have her own. I wonder if this is true … or whether she has a secret blog. I, myself, have a secret blog where I write other, non-marketing stuff. How many others have secret blogs? Let me know … go on — you know you want to!
My good buddy, CK, is putting in the hard yards to make sure that you all remember that the MarketingProfs Book Club’s first group review starts in ONE WEEK. That’s right, you have to read the book and be ready for witty repartee and thrilling insight in less than 7 days!
