JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

During the past two nights I have been preparing the talk I will present at Northern Voice two weeks from today on February 19. After researching, reading through my delicious bookmarks file of posts and examining other notes, I wrote a summary and titled my talk Making Masks: Blogging as a Social Tool and Family Lifestyle. Here are a few questions I hope to describe and discuss: Who are we when we blog? How do we decide which pieces of ourselves to put into our posts? Which masks do we wear at home, at work and in our blogs?

Who are we when we blog? is one question I had to answer when writing my talk and Who am I? is a question I had to answer when writing my bio for the conference site. It took me longer to describe who I am than to describe what I want to say. I’m not used to writing in third person about myself, listing achievements in a self-promotional sense; it seemed so different, almost antithetical to a blogging tone/attitude, but I decided to try it. Plus I realized I leapt off the career ladder nearly seven years ago. It’s been a while since I’ve had to define who I am professionally. My experience also follows a divergent path, pursuing various interests. I decided to write my bio highlighting my blogging experience while referring to my past and present for context. Who am I?

I find this question of identity in blogging, including which masks we wear, what we choose to reveal, who we are in our blogs, fascinating, and I plan to share how it has affected our family. I hope that a playful and provocative talk will lead into an intense and intimate discussion at Northern Voice.

See you there!