Video Blogging 011

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The sub-title of this post is: 

"Why I Put Video On My Blog And You Probably Should Too."

Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Let's talk about video blogging (a/k/a vlogging...sounds painful). You may have noticed my smiling face on a few of my previous posts:

1. It Is Well - Scratch Demo
2. Shout With Joy - New Song
3. Zoom H2 Handy Recorder Video Review
4. New Song - Let Us Fix Our Eyes

I recently took up blogging again with a commitment to take it more seriously than I had in the past. As a part of this, I decided to make video blogging a regular part of my blog diet. Perhaps you should, too. Here's why I am doing it:

1. To externalize more. As I have stated in a recent post, I am an introvert. I internalize almost everything. I have great, deep, spiritual, practical, funny conversations with myself in the shower. I tend to think that most people do. My problem is that I never do anything about it except to file it away in case it is needed. I'm not an expert at many things, but some of the thoughts and ideas I have may appeal to and benefit a wider audience than my wife's shampoo collection. The written word can accomplish this to a certain point, but...
2. Video is a multi-sensory way to express ideas. While I am an introvert, I am also an aural learner. I can remember things that people have said more than I remember things that I've read. [I'm also a poet, but wasn't aware.]
   
   [That was a joke.]
   
   Sometimes, video is a better way to communicate new ideas. In my videos, I've tried to incorporate visual, aural, and textual (sub-titles) in order to communicate my ideas more effectively. I hope it is something you've noticed without really 'noticing'. 
3. I need to get over myself. There's a great line from The King of Queens where Doug has bought his wife, Carrie, Lasik surgery for her birthday. Just before he helps her take the bandages off her eyes, he says, "Hey, listen, since you're gonna be seeing clear from now on, I feel I should warn you... I'm a little overweight." While this is certainly true of me, I think the bigger reality is that not very many people like (a) how they look in pictures or video, and (b) the sound of their recorded voice. There's something about our mirrors and the sounds in our heads that lie to us. I decided that I needed to just get over both of those things and make more videos. If you went to a therapist and said you were afraid of water, they wouldn't tell you to stay away from water, would they? No! They would gently expose you to water in small, yet increasing amounts until you were no longer afraid. That is essentially what I am doing to myself by making more videos for my blog. It is exposure therapy for myself so I can get over myself, stop hiding, and externalize more.

There is a great quote from Bull Durham that is on my Facebook page. Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner, says toward the end,

"The world is made for those who aren't cursed with self-awareness."

Get over yourself.

Stop hiding.

Make some videos.

Put 'em on your blog.

You probably have more to say than you realize.

[There I go talking to myself again.]