If I don't write to empty my mind, I go mad. ~Lord Byron
Every once in awhile, I find a quote that basically says it all, but without some periphrasis now and then, how can I truly explore my feelings? Ganeida, my friend in Australia, asked these questions on her own blog:
So why do you blog? What is it about blogging that keeps you posting, week after week?
Ganeida was the one who got me thinking of blogging seriously. Besides the fact we have homeschooling a musically gifted child in common, I so enjoy her humor, bits of trivia, style of writing, and occasional exotic words in common Aussie dialect. Why I decided to blog was...well, the contributing factors were many, but Ganeida provided just the right amount of encouragement through writing her own blog. Perhaps, I could say just for the enjoyment of it and be done with it, but that would not be me, would it? It simply must to be more complicated than that!
You see, I have been writing articles published in a local newspaper about alternative and complimentary health for the last eleven years. These articles have a deadline and must to meet a criteria to be published, such as length, content, format and such. Apparently the publisher and I have differing opinions about my writing abilities. My inadequacies embarrass me too much to think I am a real "writer." However, beyond the fact that I enjoy researching and writing, after eleven years I think I can claim, technically, that I am a published writer of health related articles, at least. As much as I enjoy that form of writing, I do not have the freedom to write about just anything that comes to mind or other interests and I find I have a desire to share my faith through writing more than ever before.
For the last two years I had toyed with the idea of dropping forums completely and blogging, but I was concerned about putting personal information out there on the Internet even with some anonymity. They say what goes on the Internet, stays on the Internet, and my husband does not like to put anything in writing unless necessary. So, I decided that I would be happy with just a personal private journal on my own computer. I had been keeping a journal...although rather irregularly. I really wanted to write a bit of something more regularly, but I found myself struggling with motivation. In my heart, I still wanted to do a blog, and yet not....(This is why I always warn people that I am often conflicted.)
I felt a blog would be confining when it came to some of the things I would like to express and it is. Even though I have configured it so that search engines will not see it, making it semi-private, some things I wish to write about should remain absolutely private and, if I write about them at all, it would only be in my private journal on my own computer. On the other hand, I truly love the freedom to write about the things I want, whether random thoughts, spiritual insights, memories, homeschooling, or happenings, all without any rules but my own!
The most motivating thing about blogging, in comparison to keeping a private journal, is that someone might read it within minutes after I finish. In fact, I feel compelled to write more often to keep my family and friends interested and informed. I was a bit timid in the beginning about adding pictures of my daughter, as my husband and I have been always in agreement about posting pictures on the Internet, but then I got into face painting--how could I share my artwork if I did not post the face used as a canvass? Of course, the face I paint the most belongs to my own daughter.
Digital scrapbooking is another time consuming interest of mine for which I really do not have time, but that is also a desire that is satisfied, in part, through blogging. I could really get caught up in making lovely scrapbook pages for my pictures, but it remains low on my list of priorities for now.
A few pictures and a little writing (or a lot) to share with my loved ones and a prayer to remind me to seek my Lord in all things makes blogging an enjoyable, worthwhile, and excusable indulgence, but if it did no honor to my Lord it would be a sinful waste of time.
~ My Lord, may I honor You by using the gifts You have given me and resources available to me. Thank you for this blog so that I am able to share my thoughts with my family and friends. ~
