Blogging

Monday, January 31, 2011

Good Morning!

There comes a time in a person's life when they have to take some time to think about the things that they do. For me, blogging is one of those things, and recently I thought about it a little. I thought about the nature of blogging, what it is for others, and what it is to me.

We all know that there are a lot of blogs out there. Actually, we probably don't know, that is how many there are! So when it came down to me thinking about my blog and myself as the writer, I had to think, why am I partaking in this relatively new thing we call "blogging"? Why are others doing it? The answer to the second question is, obviously, a bunch of reasons that I don't know about. All I can hope, though, is that other bloggers have at least one reason in common with me. That reason is, for the love of sharing with others. I blog because I like to share bits of my life with other people. I hope that what I share will inspire others to think, create, or act in any other positive way. I live far away from my family and friends and it's a nice way to share part of my life with them because when we do see each other or talk on the phone, I'm not going to fill all of that time with information about my hobbies. I also have been the reader of many great blogs and they constantly inspire me. I only hope that I could do the same for someone else in the world.

One troublesome part of reading many wonderful blogs is that I start to think that I should, in many ways, be like the bloggers whose writing I read. Sometimes I'm aware of this tendency in my thoughts, sometimes not as much, but I've been figuring some things out about it recently. First of all, after reading many posts that stressed this exact fact, I realized, "duh, I don't actually know these people, or anything about their real lives!". I know this is kind of an obvious point, but what goes up on a blog is not all there is in a person's life. I don't know how their lives are, but I can guarantee that it is not as perfect as it seems on my computer screen. Also, my situation is very different from theirs. Many of my favourite blogs are authored by stay at home moms. They are older, more established, and living very different lives than mine. That is why it's so much fun reading their blogs! That said, my blog just can't be what their blog is.

My blog is not a business. I don't even have Adsense. I make zero dollars and zero cents off of it. Guess what? That's the way I like it! While I might be 99% consistent with my posts and productivity if it were a business, it would also become a job, an obligation. I do feel a certain amount of obligation to write on this blog more than once a week and when I am posting less, I wish I was posting more, but I have nothing riding on it. I'm not expecting to bring in a certain amount of profit which requires a certain amount of effort put it. I am simply here because I want to be.

I like writing. I like sharing. I like the sense of community when you lovely readers (whether you are my sister, my mom's coworker or someone on the other side of the planet) drop in, read my writing (or at least look at the pictures) and occasionally leave a comment. I guess I thought that it was worth telling you that's why I'm here, and I'm glad you are too.


Here's to a great February. :)


 

1 wonderful comments:

Mom said...

Your blog is a pleasure to read. You have great ideas and thoughts to share. As your mother, I love being able to keep up with your life on a very regular basis. As a reader, I simply enjoy your blog as I know others do.