“Yes, blogging is entertainment. It is performance. Each blog post a show, sometimes an opera, sometimes a 30 second commercial. Like a show, it may start with a bang, lead you along from song to song, have a great climatic moment, then leave the audience wanting more.” Lorelle Van Fossen
So why do you blog? What is it about blogging that keeps you posting, week after week?
I was thinking about this because, you know, all my friends live in the computer. Well, not quite, but that's how it seems sometimes. I log on each morning in happy anticipation of hearing from *friends* from all round the world.
When I began blogging 3 years & 2 crashed blogs ago, I wasn't expecting anyone at all to read here so I was writing primarily to amuse me, & only me, but against all expectations people do ~ read that is. I have been richly blessed by the lives, so different from my own, that I have had glimpses in to.
We live, from choice, in a very small, intellectually isolated community. Visually it is stunning; like living in the country in many, many ways but I miss being part of a university campus with the give & take of ideas, the easy access to culture & information, the library...! Boy do I miss the library. Our library is tiny so thank the good Lord for inter~library loans!
In the maze of years that compromise my life we began homeschooling & suddenly I found I had a computer. I had Internet. I had access to sooo much information. What I didn't have was a single other person I knew in real life who homeschooled their child. Seriously. Not one single other person. My kids felt like freaks. Ditz still suffers from freak syndrome.
Initially we used the State Distance program because that's all Dearest knew & I didn't know enough myself to convince him there were better choices out there but at my fingertips I had all this information: homeschooling forums & homeschooling blogs & curriculum suppliers & HSLDA ~ link after link after link & there was little old me sitting in my little island pond, overwhelmed, sifting through all this with my jaw dragging along the ground & not a little touch of envy.
Church too: suddenly I wasn't the only Quaker I could talk too. I could read what other Quakers around the world were thinking, the concerns on others' hearts, how the Lord was leading others. I became aware that the Lord was calling people out of mainstream churches into home churches, or small community churches or non~denominational churches & that amongst all the Christians being called to a plainer, simpler lifestyle there was a resurgence amongst Quakers to plain dress, plain speech, simple living & a Christ centered approach.
So blogging became my fishing line. I baited it with a little of this & a little of that because I have a flibberty~gibbert mind that skitters from subject to subject randomly & patiently waited to see what, or who, bit. I am quite shy & introverted ~ except in writing. Writing is my natural medium. I am very comfortable using the written word & so I never wanted one of those oh so worthy blogs full of good instruction & streamlined to cover one subject area in great depth. Things, meh. What interests me is people. I'm interested in what people are passionate about, the things that are important enough to them to write about, how they live their lives, what they believe, how they cope. Blogging is a way to reach out, make connections, share space. That it is such an international community is an added bonus for me.
It is through blogging I have got to know other homeschoolers, other Quakers & people so different from me I wish I could peel their brain like an orange & investigate it segment by segment. Don't worry. I'm far too squeamish to literally do that but the idea is there.
So why do you blog?
10 comments:
Making new friends is certainly a wonderful result of blogging, but I started because I was encouraged to share some of my ideas. Plus, I see it as a nice way to 'track' what we've been doing with our homeschooling.
Another reason is because I have many family members interstate, so we can share some of our happenings here in blogging land. :)
I have a list of reasons. I suppose I will blog about them one day, but the main one is that you--yes, YOU!--talked me into it. Actually, I have a strong desire to journal my thoughts, but you inspired me to actually blog and you keep inspiring me. Thank you, Ganeida.
I've actually asked myself this question a few times. I started by impulse, something which is common for me to do. Impulsive behavior. My life keeps me tethered to my farm, so I live a somewhat isolated existence even though my location is not remote. The people I do know and occasionally interact with have one commonality to me; horses. So I started talking to cyberspace with the same expectation, that I would be talking to and entertaining myself. And this I do, but some people read it, what a surprise! The pleasant benefit is, I have met so many people that I strangely feel a connection to and literally miss when they are missing for awhile. Where else in the world would I have met a sassy, quirky Australian Quaker with a sharp mind and a sense of humor? No where I can think of! It's all amazing to me.
hmmm. I first entered blog-world because of you, dear friend. My actual writing started with the move, and wanting to chronicle our activities, both for my own memory and for now-distant family members. My readership hasn't expanded much in a year and a half, and that's okay with me. I don't mind talking about myself, but I hate having to explain myself.
We're not the only family homeschooling autistic kids! Whoo-hoo!
I also like checking in with others, seeing their ideas and discussing opinions. :]
I am denying all responsibility for the blogging habits of those who think I had something to do with them! ☺ Really!
alecat & mamaO: yes we have family interstate & overseas too & blogging makes it easy for them to keep in touch.
Sandra: you are right about never running into some people anywhere else but in Blogland & I am immensly grateful for that because it has expanded my world. I love where I live but I do abhore the intellectual vacumne.
MrsC: Now where else would I have run into an American who grew up in all my old Sydney haunts? How weird is that?
I blog because it seemed like a good idea at the time.
I blogged about why I blog.
I started blogging mainly to have another adult to talk to... at least I can pretend there are other adults "listening" when I talk through my blog. The life of a single mom is a very alone life- even if I am never alone. I also use my blog as a kind of accountability partner. When one is just keeping house for a bunch of kids, it's all too easy to throw the same easy meal on the table day after day. Kids don't care about dust and attractively arranged furniture. But having a blog, taking frequent pictures to put up, posting a weekly menu- these kinds of things keep me from sliding into just doing the easiest thing, and motivate me to do the loveliest thing instead♥
Also, somewhere along the way, I came to enjoy the whole process of blogging, the creative side of it has captured my interest... it's kinda like decorating and entertaining and writing all rolled into one package.
I'm kind of speechless on this one! I've been wanting to write a piece on why I blog for a while and I'm conflicted. :) One of my main reasons was I wanted a quieter space, a sort of vacation away from the forums I work on. I'll tell the rest of my reasons eventually on my blog some day, though I'm quite lazy now that it is summer break. I love your blog and the connections and friendships. That's been the unexpected surprise for me!
Thanks,
Jan Lyn
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