Why I Blog

I started this blog years ago when many of my close, local friends were actively blogging. The whole thing was a bit of a novelty and it was fun to have these virtual conversations during the work week to complement the real ones we would have later that night or later that weekend. Blogging was a fun way to stay connected. But after a few months of constant blogging, some in our circle of blogging friends dropped off significantly and others fell off the wagon completely. At least one friend (way to go, J!) kept it up for years to come.

In the meantime, I started following more "professional blogs"... blogs that were focused on one area and added to my understanding in that area. My favorites are Jonathan Cohn and Jonathan Chait (I know, it's confusing), who blog about politics at The New Republic. But I also would occasionally read others for information or perspective... Millionaire Mommy Next Door and Guy Kawasaki are ones I find interesting.

I started blogging to be connected to my friends in, perhaps, a more significant way... I wanted to have deep, ongoing conversations. I wanted to work through things. But it can be exhausting for everyone, and I saw friends drop blogging entirely multiple times. I did (and do!) the same from time to time. I'm glad I don't have the pressures of readership and click-thru's and the like to make me have to blog all the time; however, when my blog grows weeks for a half year on end, I do still feel a bit guilty.

So why blog? One of my latest blog followings has been a new good friend we made in the Raleigh area, Somer. I feel like Somer balances the line between personal blogging and professional blogging somewhat. She blogs to work through life and because she loves to write. She's encouraged me to blog again, but I had to stop and ponder this question lately.

At the same time, I went through this significant move in my life and had to ponder how far I had come in the last 3 or 4 years. Then the answer to "why blog?" came to me clearly. I don't aspire to become a great writer. I have no interest in hundreds of followers - I don't want that kind of pressure! I don't do it to keep in touch with family and friends per se - I prefer to do that in other ways. I decided that I really want to keep up with my blog because it's a journal of my life for me. If no one ever reads any of my posts again, I would be fine with that... but I hope future me (that feels like a very How-I-Met-Your-Mother thing to say) will come back and read these posts down the road and have that journal of personal development available.

So there you go, my 2 readers... I'm sorry for letting the blog collect dust. And I'm sorry that it will collect dust another time; however, I might just go on a small writing spree here soon and get some things off my chest and preserved... for your and future me's reading pleasure.