Tag...You're It!!!!!!
Andrea tagged me and asked me to post "Five Reasons Why I Blog". This is actually the first time I've been tagged...and I had to think about it for a while. To tell you the truth, a little over a year ago I didn't even know what a blog was. I happened upon Fragments From Floyd while reading up on the town of Floyd, and discovered the wonderful writing and photography of Fred First, the author of Fragments.
At the time, we had just relocated to a very rural area because of my husband's job and I was feeling very disoriented and disconnected. Being a stay-at-home mom in a new town...having to start from scratch making friends in an area that is wary of "outsiders" can be difficult and isolating. I started looking forward to sitting with my coffee each morning and logging onto Fragments, and subsequently Colleen's, and feeling like I had just heard from a friend....it made me feel I had some connection to someone out there.
Then the wheels started turning in my head. I tended to leave long, rambling comments on their blogs, and thought to myself, "Hmmm.....I should just start my own, so they don't get sick of me venting on their blogs." I think everyone has something to say and wants to be heard. I know I especially did at that time in my life. But I was very reluctant at first because of safety issues. I sought advice from Colleen and my sister, who had just recently started up a family blog...and they gave me tips on how to do it as safely as possible.
So, in a nutshell, that's how it all began! A bonus to blogging for me is that it's an easy way to document my life and preserve memories for my son. I have never been able to consistently journal and am horrible about keeping up with photos and getting them into albums....much less labeling them. With blogging, I can just download a photo and write a quick blurb about it.....that easy! And I also feel it makes me reflect more and verbalize better what the photo, thought, or memory is about, because I know others will read it.
It's been a very good thing in my life....an outlet to write about things that are important to me, inspire me, make me think.......it gives me that kick in the heiney I so often need to look for ways to express myself and see my world more creatively. I live in a beautiful area, but felt I had no one to share that with..... there are issues and ideas I'm passionate about, but had no one to talk with about them. This blog has been my outlet and my voice in this chaotic and frenzied world we live in..... a place to sit and pause and write my thoughts down...to reflect on where I come from, where I am now, and where I am going.
Sooooo, this isn't "technically" five reasons, but I think I answered the "spirit" of the question. And instead of tagging specific people, I'm going to throw it out to all of you..... Why do YOU blog? I'd love to hear your answers!
Andrea tagged me and asked me to post "Five Reasons Why I Blog". This is actually the first time I've been tagged...and I had to think about it for a while. To tell you the truth, a little over a year ago I didn't even know what a blog was. I happened upon Fragments From Floyd while reading up on the town of Floyd, and discovered the wonderful writing and photography of Fred First, the author of Fragments.
At the time, we had just relocated to a very rural area because of my husband's job and I was feeling very disoriented and disconnected. Being a stay-at-home mom in a new town...having to start from scratch making friends in an area that is wary of "outsiders" can be difficult and isolating. I started looking forward to sitting with my coffee each morning and logging onto Fragments, and subsequently Colleen's, and feeling like I had just heard from a friend....it made me feel I had some connection to someone out there.
Then the wheels started turning in my head. I tended to leave long, rambling comments on their blogs, and thought to myself, "Hmmm.....I should just start my own, so they don't get sick of me venting on their blogs." I think everyone has something to say and wants to be heard. I know I especially did at that time in my life. But I was very reluctant at first because of safety issues. I sought advice from Colleen and my sister, who had just recently started up a family blog...and they gave me tips on how to do it as safely as possible.
So, in a nutshell, that's how it all began! A bonus to blogging for me is that it's an easy way to document my life and preserve memories for my son. I have never been able to consistently journal and am horrible about keeping up with photos and getting them into albums....much less labeling them. With blogging, I can just download a photo and write a quick blurb about it.....that easy! And I also feel it makes me reflect more and verbalize better what the photo, thought, or memory is about, because I know others will read it.
It's been a very good thing in my life....an outlet to write about things that are important to me, inspire me, make me think.......it gives me that kick in the heiney I so often need to look for ways to express myself and see my world more creatively. I live in a beautiful area, but felt I had no one to share that with..... there are issues and ideas I'm passionate about, but had no one to talk with about them. This blog has been my outlet and my voice in this chaotic and frenzied world we live in..... a place to sit and pause and write my thoughts down...to reflect on where I come from, where I am now, and where I am going.
Sooooo, this isn't "technically" five reasons, but I think I answered the "spirit" of the question. And instead of tagging specific people, I'm going to throw it out to all of you..... Why do YOU blog? I'd love to hear your answers!
(sidenote: For a great post about blogging from Fred First, go HERE . )
17 comments:
Thank you for sharing--I think a lot of us have the same reasons why we blog--and how much a blessing it is to share it with each other. I enjoyed reading your experience!
I also live in the rural Appalachian mountains, and they can get lonely sometimes! I started reading blogs when my husband was working out of town, and like you, thought "I could do that!". It is a great way to share pictures and thoughts, document family stories and events. Now whenever the grandkids do something, I am asked - will this be on your blog? You bet!
~susan
~patchwork reflections
~memories in a jar
Great post, bluemountainmama! I've been thinking about this a lot lately too, but instead of leaving a long rambling comment on your blog, I think I might do a post of my own. A lot of your reasoning (& initial concern) resonated with me as well. It's an easy way to share your thoughts, document your life, & put your voice out there.
Thank you for sharing - this was fun to read!
kirsten- i don't mind long, rambling comments! :) but let me know when you do a post of your own about blogging.....
Fragments is great, I wondered if you have read this post of Fred's, a great story...
susan- i have read that post.... he puts in so much more eloquently and creatively than I ever could. i enjoyed going back and re-reading it though....thanks for the link!
I am glad that you got tagged so that I could hear how you got rolling doing your awesome blog. I truly enjoy every visit and delight in my new friend! It has been my pleasure!
BTW, saw your sis tonight! It was so good to have everyone around again! :) ~Take care.
Oh...I also meant to tell you that the reason I blog is because I wanted to actively find beauty here in this place that I wasnt that happy. God has been faithful in showing me where to look to find those pictures! I get a joy from doing this that I did not have before and I think that God was answering a prayer for me.
:)
Hi, I love your blog and your passion for life. Its been uplifting to read and see where you live. I began blogging at my cousin's encouragement. He said it would be a good way to communicate and share pictures with each other. I found I liked it and the fact that i could show my pictures to an appreciative audience. many of my friends didn't want to sit and look at them or couldn't understand why i would take a picture of a knothole or rust or abstract lines. I had found an outlet and many new friends across the world. I was thinking tonight as I was commenting on different blog sites, here I am talking to Chicago then Kuwait, then Finland, then Florida, and now to you. That is rather mindboggling to me. Well this got rather long but I guess you did ask...
thank you all SO much for your kind words about my blog....and thanks for sharing your stories!
photowannabe- i agree- so amazing the people you "meet" from all over the world......
Interesting....thanks for sharing!
I finally succumbed, I joined the world of Blogging - not sure I still like the word at all though, but who am I to judge?
I decided that blogging would ultimately save me from seeing a shrink and so become some kind of cyber therapy - a journey inside my soul to the landscape of the cathartic. Father O'donohue suggests it takes a whole lifetime to take our place in our own life - so hopefully my blog just might be a place where I can finally create sacred space to receive myself. In other words its a simple place for have a bloody good moan or rant on the struggles of living!
And so it began just over a year ago from a bohemian bum who might just figure out life when he gets to the end of it....
harbour- good luck on that journey! i'm glad you are doing it somewhat publicly b/c i have enjoyed stopping by and reading some of those rants and moans....
Fred was my first too! He was a member of the writer's circle I belong to and I had been reading his blog for awhile, mostly for the Floyd news. I knew blogging would be perfect for me, but it was the tech stuff that scared me off for a time. I'm still no good at that part but I got some help and I don't even unpdate my blog list very often because I hate going into the CODE template!
I had forgotten that I posted that moon insomnia poem before! I did have trouble sleeping last night and had the photo of the moon over the antenna, so I couldn't help myself.
Glad you're blogging! Lately I've been calling it my "writer's petrie dish."
Bluemountain, I loved this post. Your thoughts are so beautiful; I'm glad you record them for the rest of us and get us thinking about the things you're thinking about. I'll probably blog about my reasons soon, too, like Kirsten plans to, but for now I'll say that I started blogging because I was moving WAAAAAAY across the country, from California to Florida, and wanted a way for my family and friends to keep up with all that was going on in my life. Didn't want to write a zillion e-mails that basically said the same thing every time! But now it is an outlet for thought for me.
Harbour: I just have to say that your thought about it taking a lifetime to find the place of ourselves was absolutely beautiful. I will have to check your blog soon because it sounds like you have a lot to share that's worth hearing!
colleen- thanks for YOUR inspiration! you are such a wonderful writer and humble soul!
christianne- thanks so much....actually, keeping my family up to date on daily going-ons was one of my reasons, too. but they are actually the ones that read it the least. and, like kirsten, if you do a post about your reasons, let me know...i'll link to it from this post.
and, yes, do check out harbour's blog...very thoughtful and thought-provoking. although you might catch yourself using the term "bloody" as an everyday adjective! :)
Hmm, I started blogging because I saw a few blogs online and thought it was neat. I had my blog for almost two years before I caught the blogging bug... my blog was quite dormant for awhile.
So I guess I blog to connect with others, to vent at times (typing really gets rid of angst for me), to share my joys and discoveries, to record things so I can go back later and read... and well, I can't think of a fifth reason!
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