Blog Smog

At one point in time, I was somewhat cynical about blogs. I would roll my eyes when I heard that yet another person had created a blog. Just one more person thinking that we cared what they thought. It seemed egotistical and somewhat obnoxious.

And then I created a blog.

A few weeks ago, a friend asked why. My mind went blank, I stumbled over my words, mumbled something like, "Uhh..well...I dunno, I like it?" and, I'm sure, gave them them the impression that I really had something worthwhile to say.

My reaction bothered me and made me think-'Why in the world do I have a blog? I used to think they were pretentious, what happened? Am I just contributing to internet pollution??' So, I thought about it, alot. And after a while, I came up with the answer I wish I would have said.

There are a couple reasons I decided to create a blog for myself. The first had a purely practical purpose. Not all my friends and family were on Facebook, where I would post 'Notes'. And as elementary as this sounds, I didn't want them to be left out. I wanted them to be able to read what I was writing about without having to join something that they didn't want to join.

The second reason is that I really like writing. It has a purifying and calming effect on my heart and mind. It slows me down and focuses my often jumbled head on one thing. It also gives me a chance to think about what I'm going to say before I say it. I don't always do the whole thinking-before-you-let-everyone-know-what's-going-on-in-your-head thing when I'm talking to someone face to face. Writing makes me really think about what I truly believe or feel about a situation. Not to say that once I write it here, that's my opinion for life, but it does mean that I've been thinking about it for a while. Which leads me to my third reason.

I like to think about things for a bit before I come to any sort of conclusion. Now, I'm not saying I take 3 months to ponder what color towels I want or take a day and a half to decide where to go for lunch. But with bigger life issues, it takes me a while and once my opinion is formed I often express myself better in writing, for all the reasons I mentioned before. It ensures, for the most part, that I'm being clear and saying what I want. In conversations, I get distracted(I often interject 'Sidenotes') and forget things that I want to say until 4 hours after the conversation is over. People don't like it when I call their house in the middle of the night to say things like, "I remembered-a group of raccoons is called a gaze not a tribe!!" So instead of calling them, I write it on my blog. *Stay tuned for my riveting raccoon post later in the month.*

I'm not sure of other people's reasons for blogging, but these are mine. If you disagree, start a blog and tell me why.