How to Love Being a Little Bit Crazy

We have all been called “crazy” by boyfriends, family, or friends at some point in our emotion-filled lives.  Sometimes it is with love and sometimes it is with anger, but it references an aspect of our personalities that is special and lovable.  I just conducted an interview with the insightful self-proclaimed “Crazy Girl” Kaneisha Grayson who teaches women how to be strong and love themselves for being just a little bit crazy!  She started the relationship blog CrazyGirl Nation to share advice about careers, happiness, and dating.  I wanted to find out how she gets comfortable writing about such private issues and why she chose crazy girls as the focus of her blog…

• How do you define a “Crazy Girl”?

I’ve been called “crazy” my whole life—usually in a loving way, but sometimes not so lovingly. The beauty is that I embrace my craziness and I am looking for others like me! CrazyGirl Nation is a community for Crazy Girls and the people who love us. Crazy Girls are outgoing, ambitious, intelligent, and passionate women who want to live fabulous lives but find themselves freaking out from time to time about their careers, their happiness, and their romantic relationships. Most of my closest friends are Crazy Girls. Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda of Sex and the City are Crazy Girls. Most women bloggers are Crazy Girls. CrazyGirl Nation is a place where these women are celebrated and can support one another.

• What is the most common question that you get from your readers and how do you answer it?

The two most common Google searches that lead people to my blog are “How to Ask Your Boyfriend to Get an STD Test” and “How to Make Your Boyfriend Miss You.” These are people out in the internet universe, so I can’t say those are actually the main concerns of my loyal readers. I think the biggest overall problem that my women readers deal with is what to do when they feel like their boyfriend or husband is taking them for granted. You can’t really make someone show you more attention or make you feel more special. It’s something you have to draw out of your partner by being independent and constantly on the move. It’s something I struggle with all the time—wanting to make sure the relationship stays special without nagging my boyfriend about it.

However, as of this interview, 52% of my readership is actually men! I think men read my blog for the same reason they watch Sex and the City. They want to know how women think, what we care about, and how we talk about them when they aren’t around. They aren’t spying. They’re just lurking and enjoying the community of Crazy Girls.

• What is your favorite relationship self-help book?

My relationship go-to-guides are Why Men Love Bitches (and the sequel Why Men Marry Bitches) as well as the combined edition of The Rules and The Rules II. I’m also a big fan of He’s Just Not That Into You. These books really gave me a much needed wake-up call when it came to dating. They showed me how to date with dignity instead of being a dating dummy. I would recommend these books for any woman who is frustrated with her dating situation—or who just wants to make dating a lot less worrisome and a lot more fun.

• How do you get comfortable discussing private issues like sex and relationships in an open forum like a blog?

I’ve never been much of a private person. As a writer, my value is in being able to give people a window into people’s inner worlds—even if they are fictional character’s inner worlds. My blog is a window into my inner world. You don’t get to see every nook and cranny of my house—just enough to know that I’m real and there’s lots of great treasures inside of me. I think that it’s very important that we talk about private issues in an open forum so we can learn from and support one another. I’m very careful to write about only what is my own business. My friends don’t have to worry that they tell me something and it will end up on the blog. I don’t need anything sensational or gossipy to draw readers. Readers are drawn in by the topics, because they are real concerns they deal with and have opinions on. I write about the things I struggle with or have gone through. When choosing what to write about, I operate under the assumption that if I’m thinking about something a lot, chances are lots of other people are too. I’m really thankful for the internet and how easy self-publishing has become. CrazyGirl Nation means a lot to me. It’s given me a community of people around the world that I identify with and who understand what it’s like to be “crazy.” I just hope to have the opportunity to continue to grow the community and reach other people.

Image: sxc.hu