Why blog?

This blog has become a hobby of mine. When I set out to blog, I didn't have a good reason to do so, but this has changed. There a multiple reasons why I post and some of them follow:

Often I have family members and friends that I admittedly do not call/contact frequently enough. They want to see pictures. Not of me (as you can tell by previous posts), but of my family. I know they like seeing how they're growing and learning about what they're doing. I also get to tell them what's going on and what I'm thinking or feeling, which brings me to another reason.

Having a blog allows me to publicize my opinions and my passions. I typically try to do this in a non-offensive way, but by doing this, it becomes a sort of release for me. A good friend of mine started a blog about the same time as I did. His purpose was to express spiritual beliefs and spiritual truths. I never thought I would do this on here, but more often than not, I'm learning something about God and what He is telling me, I just want anyone willing to read it to know what it is. Oh, and those who are wondering, yes, He DOES talk to me, and sometimes I even listen! This blog also allows me to throw around other opinions too.

Frankly another reason I post is for the sake of humor. Before I became a somewhat serious person, I was known to say "humor at all cost!" I back off from this now, because I've decided taste should win out, let alone other virtues. But I love trying to make people laugh. It's a beautiful sound, and I like to think I can do it occasionally. I try to work it in to almost all of my posts, and sometimes post solely for this reason.

One of the more fascinating things about blogging is that it becomes a connection tool as well. If you comment on someone's blog, they may in turn come to your site and comment as well. This is great as it allows for connections to be made with people you may not otherwise get to (virtually) meet. Of course, comments for me are a great thing in and of itself. Nothing like a nice dialog or debate on a topic.

Thanks to Google Analytics, I can also get an idea of where people are when they visit the site. This is also encouraging. Often I can tell who hits the site based on what city they are viewing the site from. There is a modest little readership out there, which is encouraging. I suppose if nobody read this, it would essentially just be a journal of "polished thoughts." I appreciate the fact that people visit.

One of the harder parts of blogging is the self-imposed pressure. If you do not keep posting, then readership dwindles. So you constantly think about what you should write about. Often posts are written but the editor in your brain scraps the idea before it's actually posted. I keep telling myself that shorter is better (See footnote below). It's interesting how consuming a blog can be.

So anyhow, in case you were curious, this is why I now blog. It's not why I started, but it's why this drivel ends up out there for the world to see. OK, maybe not the WHOLE world, but it sounds good doesn't it?

Footnote:
This post was suppose to be a short one actually too, but posts can also be organic and run out of control.