I'm just a bloggin' fool
Paul Lester asked an interesting question on his blog earlier this week. In his post, Paul Lester Photo » Blog Archive » Why I blog, he challenges his readers to explain why they blog and if they've ever been tempted to quit.
The second question is easy to answer. I did quit, for nearly two years, when other aspects of my life demanded my full attention. No one was more surprised than I when I started up again.
The first question - why do you blog? - is harder to answer. I don't know the reasons. I first started to learn the technology; but it's not that complicated, and that was quickly accomplished. Yet I blog on, despite the progress in interfaces that makes it ever easier to do so.
For more than 20 years I've been part of online communities. I've met good friends (not to mention my husband), and I've learned a lot about a lot of different things. In many ways, online communities are much like the colleges and universities at which I work. Both are full of talented, knowledgeable, and diverse people who are incredibly interesting and who value many of the same things that I do in life.
As my network of online friends has expanded, as more and more friends and family have moved online, and as email has overrun itself with spam (it's so crowded no one goes there anymore), blogging has simply become an easier way to keep in touch.
And I've learned so much! I learn from all the blogs I read - about photography, invertebrates, plants, birds, other animals, and the weather. I gain glimpses into lives very different from mine, lives of people with whom I have many common interests but would never have met in the offline course of events.
Or maybe it's simpler still. Where else would I find a community of people who would care to see a photo of a bird's nest I found in the yard this morning?
posted by Wren @ 6:55 PM
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8 Comments
8 Comments:
"Or maybe it's simpler still. Where else would I find a community of people who would care to see a photo of a bird's nest I found in the yard this morning?"
Dead on! That's what sells me, day after day, on blogging.
Cool bird's nest, too. It looks so soft!
I have to say, your photos are what keep me coming back to your blog. And, when I was mulling over starting a nature-oriented blog of my own, yours was one of the first I found from a "regular person" (as opposed to those written by professionals in the field). It was interesting to me to find others who enjoy observing and reporting on what's right in their backyard. Keep it up!
I've often wondered about my reasons for blogging as well as if the day will ever come when I stop.
I've concluded that, at least for me, it's an unhealthy thing to think about. I just keep posting and try not to think too much about the "why" of it.
Awww.. what a cool nest. Nope, probably no one else would be interested, but you put it here and those of us who love such things can smile broadly and enjoy. :c) I too learn so much from the blogs I visit and have so enjoyed getting to "know" people thorough this medium. It's certainly addictive, no doubt. Blog on wren!
The little nest seems so pleasant.
I, for the most part, like my blogging friends better than some of my real ones. On line we find one another via common interest. In life the search takes so much longer.
I see some of myself in all your comments, particularly blogging as the connection to others who share uncommon interests. Ultimately, like Pablo, I don't dwell too much on it. I blog and will continue to blog as long as I enjoy it. If it stops being fun, I'll quit. Not all decisions are that straightforward, but I'll take the easy ones where I find them.
Great post, Wren. Even though I wrote that post, I don't think about it much. My reasons are very much in line with why you blog. For me, it's mostly about the people. It's also about sharing with people of common interest. It's about caring about that bird nest and giving thought to what lived there and how they've moved on.
I hadn't framed my thoughts in just that way, Paul, but you're right. Really noticing is a way of honoring the earth and its inhabitants. Knowing others who also notice creates harmony, in its very basic, musical sense.
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