I don’t know what life would look like without the angst and drama of being me. I often think I would like to find out.

There are a number of bloggers whom I’ve encountered over the past several months who are able to take life’s mundane matters and write about them with simplicity and, more importantly, with a tongue-in-cheek, humorous bent. Sometimes it’s seriously bent, which many of you know from encounters with Le Clown.

Some of the ones who have lightened my load with their lighthearted approach to everyday life include but are not limited to:

daddyranman – a proud new papa chronicling his parenthood experiences with lots of pictures not quite showing baby Rangirl’s face.

Miss Four Eyes – funny, slightly twisted, and she wears glasses

Free Penny Press – Lynne has an easy, fun, and inspiring way of looking and writing about the world

When I take the time to read what others are writing about, I’m often struck by how “normal” and mundane their lives are, but the mundanity isn’t a bad thing, it’s something to be treasured. Especially when I read how the ones living these extraordinary lives of ordinary people are doing it with humour  humor (I’m not Canadian or from across the pond, I’m an American. I can’t even stick to my own accent when writing, I absorb and mimic what I read as well as hear, apparently), grace, and such positive and life-affirming approaches.

That’s about the time my eternal, internal critic kicks in and starts comparing me and what I write about to what these other, more joyful, and much less verbose bloggers have to say with their written words, splashy photos, and creative graphics.

Okay! THAT’S ENOUGH!

They do what they do, and I am so very grateful for it. Reading their stuff, makes me exercise my stiff and creaky smile muscles. It reminds me that life isn’t always angst-ridden and dour, full of conflict, stress, and strife. The tectonic plate of their words and perspective butts up against mine and the occasional mindquakes shift and redirect my thinking and viewpoint.

What a wonderful gift. With that gift I gain the understanding and realization that I am growing and increasing in my ability to appreciate the absurd, witness the miracle in the moment, and recognize that there are things to enjoy and appreciate in my life. That’s amazing to me, and a bit of a miracle in process.

However, none of that means that my writing and the life I live is less than or worse than anything anyone else has to offer. It is different and somewhat difficult at times, but that’s okay. I’m doing what I need to be doing right now. It’s helping me to grow and change and develop into the person I’ve wanted to become for so long. However long it takes, is however long it takes for me to reach the point where everyday life isn’t my own Poor Man’s Peyton Place soap operatic reality show.

In the meantime, I can visit, read, laugh, appreciate, and comment, thereby practicing and tasting what it’s like to be a lighter, happier, and snappier version of me.

Stay tuned, programming on the Kina channel may be expanding and incorporating sitcoms as well as drama. We’ll keep you posted.