When the Theater Seats are Empty

In theater, I have often heard people talk about the importance of having an audience during performances. The laughter of the audience feeds the actors, encouraging them to be even more outrageous, even more confident in their jokes, if the play is a comedy. The hushes and sighs and gasps and tears of the audience, if the play is a tragedy, help the actors to remain somber and focused. Suddenly they are not just acting out the assassination of Abraham Lincoln or the death of Antigone--they are recreating it, and it is tragic, and it is powerful because people feel it.

I wonder if blogs are the same way. I think that it is possible to write a really beautiful blog without readers. After all, this is what we do with our journals and with the pieces of writing that never become anything. They exist as creative expressions, soul talk, and it doesn't matter that no one ever reads them because someone needed, at some point, to write them. 

But I have to admit that a blog with readers feels more complete. It is like a house with people in all of the rooms, or even an entire neighborhood with people living in all of the houses and congregating in the streets for block parties. You are never alone. Your neighbors are sharing in your joys and your failures. They really want to see the new pictures of your baby. Some of them want to help you pick out paint samples, but others are interested in the more important things. They want to know about the worst night in your life, and also the best night. They want to know what you worry about, and if you have realized yet that you don't deserve to worry about anything.

When you live in an empty house, it is so much easier to spend the day watching TV or taking afternoon naps. If you see a funny commercial on TV, or you have an interesting dream during your nap, you may turn to an empty space on the couch or wander out of your bedroom expecting to find someone who you can tell, and when there is no one, it is one of life's most silent sadnesses. But there are other times when the aloneness helps you to be who you really are, and you find yourself walking around humming a tune or running to the kitchen because you are just so excited to break into a carton of ice cream. 

I am really looking forward to the day when I will be writing this blog to someone--and if you are reading this, then know that it is for you. For now, however, I am also going to write this blog for myself, because sometimes it is fun to laugh at a good commercial even when no one is there to share it with you.