Bullying .blog

It’s a thing I have the biggest problem with when it comes to religion, actually. Anyone who says I must believe in order to avoid damnation loses my attention. I won’t do a soul-thing to avoid punishment. And I won’t do a soul-thing to gain reward.

But having an emotional/verbal bully does something to you. To your soul-things. Lately, when I share a photo or an anecdote from some volunteering I did for the school, another day of volunteering for Girl Scouts, I don’t feel good about it.

I post it to have a record. I have no paper journal, as much as I prefer the medium for free writing. My life is scattered across the internet on a dozen different platforms. But now I relate these things to my future self and I feel no joy. Instead, I feel both an indignant, “How do you like that for not doing anything for the community!?” directed at that void place in my mind I keep for screaming at people with whom I cannot actually speak. This, while also raging at myself “You have nothing you need to prove to him,” from that thin layer of calm that wraps my chaos.

When I give a few bucks in a fund raiser, bucks this family can easily spend, but can more easily spare in favor of others, I’m instead wondering if this one will make me good enough for him. All the while I’m pissed because I know both that he will never change his abusive opinion of me, and it remains one which does not matter.

Rather than doing the offhand nice things I do for people, I’m questioning my own motives. I’m wondering if I’m doing this just to “show him”, and then I don’t even want to do it anymore.

My bully has made me wary of being nice, of being compassionate and empathetic. My bully has made me question my entire sense of self, despite having stayed far away from him as instructed.#toxic people #toxic masculinity #cyberbullying #stop cyber bullying

—JAKOSALEM MICO P

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
What topics do you think you’ll write about?
Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

Social news

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)