[Bump] The blog's name...

comes from the lyrics to the song for the song "Say", by John Mayer:
[edited post, originally published in January 2009]

"Take all of your wasted honor
every little past frustration
Take all of your so called problems
better put 'em in quotations

Say what you need to say (x7),
Say what you need to saaaay

Walking like a one man army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you'd be better off instead

If you could only
Say what you need to say (x7),
Say what you need to say

Have no fear, for giving in
Have no fear, for giving over
You better know that in the end
It's better to say too much
Than never to say what you need to say again

Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open...

Say what you need to say (x7)
Say what you need to, say what you need to,
say what you need to saaaay....."

I've heard this song many times on the radio. I'm not a huge fan of John Mayer the person, but I do like this particular song. It has a very direct message, which states that it's better to get out those feelings in your head and heart than to keep them in, where they do no-one any good.

The lyrics of this song are an excellent illustration of what really worthwhile communication is about, whether through blogging, or phone calls, or face-to-face conversations: are we really saying what needs to be said? What really needs to be said to the people in our lives, not just idle chit-chat?
So, why the phrase "Say what you need to say" as a title for this blog? Well, I guess because I see blogging as an outlet for at least some of what I want to say. I'm an intelligent person who is currently in need of both a writing outlet and a way to write about various aspects of my life. I'll be writing about various things, including books, and marriage, and parenting, and life as a parent of a special-needs-child, and life with a child with Prader-Willi Syndrome and all the challenges that brings to me and my family. I could write a whole blog on PWS all by itself...but that's not all of who I am, and while PWS definitely affects my family it does not completely define my family. I may mention God/Jesus and my faith life at times, but please, I'm not trying to evangelize anyone or shove religion at you! I may be learning a bit about myself in this process, but that's to be expected, and I hope you'll bear with me -- like this blog, we are all a work-in-progress!

Later,
Jen