This will probably be a vshort post as I feel the urge to write, and I have what feels like a million and one things to do. So here are my thoughts in a nutshell.
Do you remember in the 70s a phrase that became very popular was the personal is political. It came to me the other day as I was mulling over something that's been on my mind for a long time and that is to what extent should we mix the personal and the professional? Some of the bloggers that I enjoy the most have two blogs: a personal one and a professional one. I admire them for the commitment they have to keeping two current with regular new material. I also wonder how that works with the idea that people buy from people that they know, like and trust.
Is it better to define a blog by the audience that one is intending to reach? Most people like to be able to categorise people and things. What we don't like as a rule is ambiguity, the inability to classify blogs, people etc. The problem with that is that we are all complex individuals with many different thoughts and often contradictory ideas. The more we are able to live in a technicolour world, the richer are experience will be. This is why for me the phrase that people are doing the best they can with the resources that they have available resonates so much.
So what do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.
The lines seem to become more blurred and indeed I agree that there is a richness is bridging the two. What I struggle with sometimes is the trust that this gives people, and perhaps the distrust I have in others!
ReplyDeleteI think it depends on the job that you do. When I was working within an organisation, I kept personal and professional very seperate. How that I run a consultancy, I believe that part of my marketing is how I integrate the personal into the professional to make me a more attractive proposition.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. Esther I found yours very thought provoking in that it is all about trust and by trusting others we can become vulnerable or be let down or end up in a deeper more fulfilling relationship. For my money people often want everything to be neat and clear cut and the more we blur these boundaries the less that is so. And Karen I know where you are coming from and I was certainly more circumspect when in corporate and as a result of that I had fewer friends. I did bring quite a bit of me into the work place but often in small ways such as wearing bright colours to offset dull coloured suits.
ReplyDeleteFor the professional is a part of my personal, but a comparment within it.
ReplyDeleteFor example my professional life doesn't see my Mummy life but the bahaviours I have remain the same, e.g. politeness
Hello Hannah I have only just seen this comment, don't know why so hence I am replying now. Curious to ask this it sounds like you compartmentalise your professional side within the personal. What do you think those in your professional life are missing by not seeing the whole of you?
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