The Latin phrase sub rosa literally means “under the rose”, the phrase denote secrecy and confidentiality. For me this title captures an inner conflict; my private thoughts and writings, following my day-to-day reading almost as in a diary, is by this blog made public. I wonder – is it possible to be deeply personal and almost anonymous at the same time?
– to write the things I will write, given who I am
sub rosa 
This phrase reminds me just a little of le Petit Prince who loved his rose so tenderly. Just as we feel about our private thoughts and writings, which we sometimes pull out to share with others.
” I wander – is it possible to be deeply personal and almost anonymous at the same time?”
What an interesting question – one that I wonder myself as I start my own blog. I suppose we find out as we go along.
What I find curious is; can we as a blogger have an objective view of our own writing and how it is percieved. But on the other hand, we must also take into consideration, that one persons view is unique.
Wow, what an amazingly precise question. That’s the rub, isn’t it? I have been struggling with that struggle for more than a year now as my blog evolves about I didn’t know how to describe what the exact struggling was. Thanks for putting it into words for me. And thanks SO much for your blog comment recently on The Book or Bust! It’s wonderful to have encouragement from fellow writers, readers, and bloggers.
Great to visit your blog again. I will add it to my blogroll. And I love the Bernhard quote. What book is it from?
Dear Sigrun,
Thank you so much, I am in involuntary confinement, Yes.!
But I got your comment.
Love,
Micheline
the image of the trees in a fog is that yours, can i use it in a painting, please
Yours is a beautiful blog, an example of how to do things right. I was hesitant to starting writing publicly myself, but after your lovely post today I feel like I am finding a beautiful community. I look forward to reading more from you.
Thank you so much for your kind words!
I have found the blog-world to be unexpectedly enriching – in all kinds of ways, my guess is that you will too …
Delighted to have found your blog – so much to read, absorb, and find connections with! Like you, I’ve found blog-world a fascinating place, and have encountered fascinating people, as well as finding my own voice, in a way. I look forward to many future encounters.
Welcome & thank you for visiting! I love this world of “Idées Sans Frontières” we all are creating together, look forward to follow your writing!
I’m really looking forward to reading your blog – so many interesting questions and connections.
“I’m not anti-social. I’m just pro-solitude” – very well put!
Ah! I moved to Vienna because of Thomas Bernhard. I think in part because he wouldn’t have wanted me there. 🙂
Ha! Best reason to move – ever! Love it!
Hi Sigrun,
Just wanted to tell you I love your new header and dark border. Lovely. 🙂
Thank you!
The picture in the header is from the house of a local author, Arne Garborg (1851-1924).
love Thomas Bernhard as well!
I use to be self-contained. Fear? Perhaps. Self-doubt? Definitely! So why do I soar now? I cannot possibly understand myself separate from understanding others. Happy that you are willing to step a foot out of the door and peer around…
🙂
no it’s not possible.. just test your ideas by showing them
absolutely!
Please put me on your blog. I learned of you through a friend, Michelle Aldridge. I love what I have seen of your work and fine sensibities. I am a professional oil painter in San Francisco, Ca. Perhaps you will have time to look at my website and let me know what you think. I will look forward to more of your writing. THANK you for sharing it.
Warmest regards from California,
Jeanne Lamosse, MFA
Hi & welcome Jeanne! I would love to get to know your work, thank you for connecting!
That fine line between a public persona on the internet and a sense of self online you wish to keep private is one many bloggers must navigate – good luck, and I just wanted to drop by to let you know how much I appreciated your comment on my blog. Looking forward to reading more of your writing. (:
Hi Thomas & welcome! Hope you will enjoy visiting!
Awesome blog, well written and put together, glad I stumbled upon ya and can’t wait to see what’s next to come 🙂
welcome & thank you!
Hi. I decided to spent the first day of my Easter vacation catching up on my WordPress reading.
Very glad to have found your blog. sub rosa is an apt blog name. I like it. It is a fine line between the realms public and private indeed.
looking forward to reading more.
welcome! hope you will enjoy your reading!
is it possible to be deeply personal and almost anonymous at the same time?
Hi! Well I think it is in that tension that art and artists reside.
I love your blog!
– thank you!
You put the question well, & I think blogs make the affirmative answer possible: yes, you can be deeply personal & almost anonymous at the same time. Congratulations on your new (I take it that it’s new) status as a national writer, and thanks for following my blog.
Thank you!
Looking forward to follow your blog!
Sigrun
Your line, deeply personal and almost anonymous, resonates with me. I have just taken up blogging after decades of journaling, the volumes of which clutter my nook. Originally I thought I would read thru old journals and glean bits for publishing; then I found that blogging about what I was feeling/thinking in the moment worked best. I am still trying to figure out the cross-over – maybe a feature in which I dive into an old diary once a week. I think I am going to enjoy your blog! Thanks for finding me.
I have no words -and these are not merely formalism- to express the spiritual joy I experience reading your posts. Thanks for all of them. I learned about this blog through another that I also enjoy reading, “Time’s flows stemmed”. Both make me look up for new readings and approaches not only to art and literature, but life… and death. I was just looking in your blog and I found out you follow a Cuban blog, “Oggun guerrero”, and then curiosity and admiration increased in the same proportion. Curiosity because what is the connection between someone leaving and working in Norway, in one very cold corner of the world and that tropical island, full of surprises and travels in time… Admiration because if you see in Cuba the slightest possibility of a better world then you are of those who love and built as Jose Marti said. I apologize if I have misunderstanding the meaning of your blog.
Dear htirado,
thank you!
The thing is – you are free to understand my blog (and the meaning of it, if there is such a thing) just as you like! What I love about blogging is the possibility it gives me – as a writer- to get comments and views on thoughts I’m pondering on. And as a reader the blog-world makes it possible for me to discover & experience things I would never ever have come across in the non-virtual.
Best,
Sigrun
I am not sure why anonymity would be important. An anonymous blog seem to be a bit disembodied? As though someone is writing something they don’t want to be associated with in the real world?
Hm, interesting; here is a tentative response:
For me this blog, that is writing it, is more about experimenting than making statements. That´s why I say “almost anonymous”, because what is at stake is the process of thinking and reflecting – as opposed to conveying any fixed view from the solid standpoint of a subject.
I love your About section, and I appreciate that your blog is an experiment for you. This was wonderful for me to read, as I’m doing the same with mine. It’s an exploration and a journey. And while I do think you can be deeply personal and almost anonymous at the same time =) A beautiful and pertinent query!
Thank you so much for these kind words! And welcome!
Hi Sigrun, Your site looks like a treasure chest! I’ve been mostly away for a few years and when I came back I noticed that I had so many people I was following that I couldn’t follow anyone. So I cleared it all out and I’m now picking up the best of the bunch. 🙂 Glad to be following you!
And I really love your photo-work – happy to hear you are here again!
🙂
Thank you! 🙂
A good question – it’s smart to be careful about what we reveal online, but on the other hand, making things personal, putting yourself in your writing, keeps the reader interested, I think. And BTW, thanks for the follow!
Thanks for reminding me of William Kentridge – he had a big show in Dublin maybe 20 years ago and it was wonderful