Thursday, December 13, 2007

Friends in my writers' group asked why I blog. I wrote the following in response. It seems appropriate to post it here.

Why I Blog

I've always journaled in one form or another - off and on but always. I have bits and pieces of journals around from when I was younger than KK. I like finding and reading snippets that show how I was thinking at different times in my life. There are some definite themes, things I've always written about. I like being able to go back and see progress, growth.

I also do a lot of family and friends letter and email writing and posting on a message board and sometimes those different venues and my journal share messages with the same core. Hving a blog initially seemed like a good way to write out the core message, then tailor it for different venues. I hoped (not always true) that people would be more likely to comment on blog messages than to write whole emails back. I liked the idea of keeping track of myself - my thoughts, felings, moods - of public events - or my reactions, of the feelings or the times, of writings mine and others that move me, in one place - so someone could track me and I could track myself.

I liked the idea that having regular blog readers waiting for a message every day or two would pressure m to write whether I felt like it or not - especially to share the stories about the children and our life. I want that there for the children as they grow up, chronicled. I treasure the letters people wrote about me when I was a kid and want to create an equal trove for these kids.

Using the blog to keep traditions, as with the recent Hanukkah lights questions is an inspiration to think and write when I may not be inspired to.

When I first started blogging Ruth had just started too and was living out of town. We shared a lot through our blogs - kept up with each other. Email could have been the same, but there was something about the other lens, writing about ourselves not to each other, that was fun. I write a blog to share myself with myself, to give others a chance to get to know me better, and to ask questions and gather comments. My biggest disappointment with blogging is that I don't get many comments, mostly from Ruth and my niece Mary.

As I've blogged I've discovered that I like playing with color and format and features like polls - that's just playing house though, playfully fun. The message keeping and sharing is the real deal. I try to write a blog that is self-revealing and open, but to honor the confidentiality and privacy of others. I am more careful regarding other people's stories than regarding my feelings. Those I feel pretty free with in the blog.

I like it when friends blog because I cna check in with them whenever I feel like it, whether they've personally reached out to me or not.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed your interesting and thorough comments on why you blog; and I share many of the same reasons. I used to journal at different times in my life. Blogging expands that option!

Ruth said...

This was interesting. The "why blog" issue is endlessly facinating to me... I need to explore it more (and how it does and doesn't serve the same purpose as scrapbooking).

I, too, have been suprised by how little others comment. But then I realize I've gotten lazy about commenting lately (ever since I got IGoogle which makes it more difficult to comment but much easier to track). I'll work on that.