Thursday, November 14, 2013

Why do I blog?

I've traditionally saved this sort of thing for lazy Saturday mornings when my brain can't come up with anything new to talk about--but I'm going to post a couple of re-runs today.

My husband and I attend daily Mass together this morning.  Afterward, as I was brewing the first of my three or four Keurig cups of coffee in anticipation of sitting down to hit my trusty keyboard with caffeine-enhanced enthusiasm, I was thinking about the whole blogging business and wondering why I almost look at it as some sort of job I need to do each day (or as close to each day as possible).  And then in my travels through my blogging dashboard page, as I scrolled through the list of previously published post titles absent-mindedly, hoping for a burst of writing inspiration, I came across a very old post, written when I'd only been at it about two months, and I thought I'd re-post it today.  (Note that I mention in this post that blogging is a great activity for a "frustrated novelist"; at the time, I was still keeping Finding Grace, which I'd been working on for almost four years at that point, a secret from everyone but my husband, my boys, and my daughter-in-law--who was one of the first people I allowed to read the entire manuscript when it was still a work in progress.  It was my way of giving a sneaky little hint about what I was up to.)  This post titled "Getting All Blogged Down" really does explain pretty well what motivates me to keep on bloggin'.

There's another post on the topic called  "Permanent Records" that I wrote a lot later in the game.  It was published just this past June, after my blog had celebrated its second anniversary.  It, too, gives a pretty good explanation for why I find blogging such an appealing and meaningful exercise.

So many people blog nowadays, it has become a topic for comedians and cartoonists to joke about.


And I get that.  Why in the world would anyone care what I have to say about anything, anyway?  I'm not famous.  I'm not an expert on anything.  As a mother to five grown sons, I have some experience to share--but even when it comes to that, there are blogging moms out there who've raised/are raising a whole lot more kids than I, and they have a more entertaining and/or inspirational way of expressing themselves when they talk about it.

And yet I sit down and type up an essay nearly every day.  I must do it.  I must write.  It's hard to explain.

I took a little break there, to read a few of my favorite blogs.  And I was tickled to see that my young friend Kate, who has a beautiful blog called Something Ivory, posted a thoughtful and insightful essay on the topic of blogging/writing today.  Kate is so eloquent and lovely--I think of her as the Grace Kelly of the blogging world--and she explains very well what motivates most of us blogger-types.  If you haven't read Kate's blog before, you should give it a look-see.

Why do I blog?  I don't know exactly...but I know that if I quit, my husband would miss my ramblings, especially when his job as an airline pilot takes him far from me and I can't talk his ear off in person.  (I don't talk off many ears--but his, I do.)

So...if you're a blogger and you're reading this, tell me: why do you blog?  Is it for the pure joy of writing?  Are you trying to preserve memories of your family's special moments for posterity?  Do you write mainly for yourself, your family, and your friends, or do you hope to reach a wider audience?  Are you a fellow Catholic who uses your blog as a forum to evangelize about our beautiful Faith?

I'm just curious.  (And I also love it when I get a comment or two.  Smiley face emoticon.)

4 comments:

  1. I started blogging as a scrapbook, but then met so many wonderful and like-minded people, that now it's like going out with friends!

    P.S. I made my husband read your catholicmatch.com post from a while back, because I thought it was so cool. I'm hoping he encourages his younger sisters to give it a whirl!

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  2. I kind of started mine partly as a way to put family stories down for posterity in an on-line "scrapbook," too. The other day, I blogged about how I made my four oldest sons wait while I took pictures of them in the car, because our oldest son was driving them all to school for the first time and I though it was such a momentous occasion. When my second oldest son saw that post, he said he didn't really even remember that day. That makes me glad I blogged about it--I mean, it was a small event, but it's fun to remember it. So that's really one of the most important reasons I like to blog--I'm recording memories for the family. But like you, I also enjoy the camaraderie and friendship blogging has given me. It's a lot of fun.

    Isn't that the most amazing thing, three boys in one family meeting their soul mates that way? I realize that article should come with a disclaimer, like diet programs: results not typical. But that's the very reason I thought it made such a great human interest story.

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  3. You're just the sweetest and you're making me blush! Thank you for this. I suspected my post on writing would resonate with you, as I know you share my love for stringing words together. :)

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