I have resisted blogging for quite some time now. I was in the generation that discovered sites like Xanga, the precursor to blogs. Only, I believe at the time we called it online journaling. However, being in our early teens we would post random things we did, fights we had, teachers who were unfair, lyrics of songs that rocked our world, what we ate and other painfully embarrassing things that we could think of so others might think we were cool. My friends and I would go get ice cream and feel the need to write about it when we got home. We were cool.
The biggest issue that I have with starting a blog is that I believe it sets an expectation. If I publish the fact that I have a blog people might be interested in reading what I have to say about nothing in particular. If I hit my streak and write regularly then an expectation is set that not only do I have things worth while to say but that I will entertain your brain regularly. Suppose I run out of things to say, and life suddenly has run out of everything that might be worth note, now set aside how blatantly awful that is for me emotionally, people would be disappointed. Those are the time when bloggers get regular comments, "Hey so and so, you haven't written for a while." or "Hey that last post you posted in 2000 was really good. Any chance you'll be writing something else soon?" Then not only are your readership hungry for more of your thoughts which is great but there is a pressure to have thoughts to write down. Voila, you have writer's block.
However, the biggest reason I didn't want to Blog was because others wanted me to. In the beginning of 2009, I quit my job at monster.com and decided to have an adventure. EVERYONE (actually it was more like 5 people) asked me if I was going to start a blog to keep people updated on what I was doing and how. I didn't want people expectantly looking up my blog for details and my lack of time or motivation not being able to comply.
So why blog? Why start a blog and start particularly, with why you don't like blogs? Well, I like journaling. I like thinking out loud. This day in age you almost don't think out loud unless there is some virtual component. Well, that isn't entirely true, I like conversation that online components provide. The comments section if you will. Mostly though, I was thinking about things that I would enjoy to blog about and mostly those things are issues that perplex me: spirituality, humanity, culture and the hows and whys of life. While I am neither a theologian, anthropologist, or even a philosopher and therefore don't have credentials to be an authority on the subject, I still have thoughts on the subject. Therefore, blogging excuses me from really needing to be an authority on the subject matters that might frequent these posts. The best yet is I like to write and artistic expression should be shared. The problem that many artist have, me in particular, is that how do you go about sharing your art without being obnoxious? So here I can share my art and no one has to like it, no one has to read it but it's there to express my inner artist.
So here is the plunge...
The biggest issue that I have with starting a blog is that I believe it sets an expectation. If I publish the fact that I have a blog people might be interested in reading what I have to say about nothing in particular. If I hit my streak and write regularly then an expectation is set that not only do I have things worth while to say but that I will entertain your brain regularly. Suppose I run out of things to say, and life suddenly has run out of everything that might be worth note, now set aside how blatantly awful that is for me emotionally, people would be disappointed. Those are the time when bloggers get regular comments, "Hey so and so, you haven't written for a while." or "Hey that last post you posted in 2000 was really good. Any chance you'll be writing something else soon?" Then not only are your readership hungry for more of your thoughts which is great but there is a pressure to have thoughts to write down. Voila, you have writer's block.
However, the biggest reason I didn't want to Blog was because others wanted me to. In the beginning of 2009, I quit my job at monster.com and decided to have an adventure. EVERYONE (actually it was more like 5 people) asked me if I was going to start a blog to keep people updated on what I was doing and how. I didn't want people expectantly looking up my blog for details and my lack of time or motivation not being able to comply.
So why blog? Why start a blog and start particularly, with why you don't like blogs? Well, I like journaling. I like thinking out loud. This day in age you almost don't think out loud unless there is some virtual component. Well, that isn't entirely true, I like conversation that online components provide. The comments section if you will. Mostly though, I was thinking about things that I would enjoy to blog about and mostly those things are issues that perplex me: spirituality, humanity, culture and the hows and whys of life. While I am neither a theologian, anthropologist, or even a philosopher and therefore don't have credentials to be an authority on the subject, I still have thoughts on the subject. Therefore, blogging excuses me from really needing to be an authority on the subject matters that might frequent these posts. The best yet is I like to write and artistic expression should be shared. The problem that many artist have, me in particular, is that how do you go about sharing your art without being obnoxious? So here I can share my art and no one has to like it, no one has to read it but it's there to express my inner artist.
So here is the plunge...
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