More than once I’ve been asked why I keep a blog. I imagine somewhere there are some highly researched answers to this – why people blog. It must be nearly the same question as why do people write in the first place? I get that blogging’s not for everyone – neither as writers nor readers. The thought of spilling your guts on a screen in front of you and then sending it out for anyone to read can be terrifying. I experience that panic too. That’s why my home screen is full of Drafts that only I can see so far.
But here’s why I write at this cyber place. I write because words form out of my fingers in ways they can’t out of my mouth. If you’ve ever tried to have an in-depth conversation with me about just about anything, you’ll know that the spoken word is not my forte. I can say things in writing, I can express myself on the screen, in ways I cannot anyway else. And through reading and writing many, many words, I’ve come to believe that connecting, in whatever way we are able to connect, is better than not connecting. And so I write. Sometimes I hit the Publish button. Sometimes it’s the Save button. Sometimes it’s Delete. Sometimes I surprise or shock people. Other times I bore people to tears. I’m pretty sure that once or twice I’ve even lost a friend over what I’ve written. That part is harder than I like to admit sometimes. But I keep going with this blog at an uneven pace, convinced that the risk of sounding self-absorbed is worth the reward of sharing my world with those who choose to read.
Oh, and for what it’s worth, I happen to believe that words have power.
lizardsgizzard 
Keep on writing! Blogging is an odd medium, but one thing it allows for that other writing doesn’t is this…Responses, the development of a conversation. That is one of its most appealing features. The comments section of my blog is way more interesting than any of the individual posts.
And know that you have readers…
Thank you, Seb. I would love to see conversations develop here on the blog. I love reading your blog’s comments though I never dare to step into those conversations!
You should dare! Always happy to have someone jump in. One good way to possibly stimulate some conversations here on your blog is to comment on other people’s blogs (not necessarily mine, I mean others that you like…). It’s amazing how this develops as a kind of currency and there ends up being nice reciprocity. Anyway, more important that you keep writing and expressing yourself! You have a really reflective and personal tone that is totally engaging.
Maybe I will dare! One of the big disillusionments I have with academia is how incredibly formulaic and impersonal it can be. I was spending all day (and a good part of the night) writing my dissertation and I couldn’t help but feel increasingly suffocated by the whole process. So after I’d earned the right to a break, I’d let me and my emotions spill onto the screen here at my blog. In the early days, very few of my posts made it into published form. I’m getting a little more adventurous on that front these days.