Why do I keep a blog?

And one more entry before I fall into the comfort of my bed this Saturday evening.

Kate, An Analysis of Life, has written an entry about 17th century diaries. It's interesting, and historical, as most of her entries are.

The reason I'm mentioning this particular entry is because at the end she poses a question to us. Here are her last words of the entry:

More about 17th century diaries in the next entry...

In the meantime, have a think about why you write your blog/diary. Do an entry on your personal reasons for blogging and come back here and leave a link. Are we all that different from 17th century diarists?

As it happens, I've already written an entry on the topic. If you would like to read it in its entirety, it is in the archives, October 8, 2005. If you would rather not bother, here is an excerpt from that entry, which answers the question why I keep a journal. When I answered, I was writing about keeping a paper journal, not the web version, which are different in content, depth, and purpose.

Here, the excerpt:

Thoughts are sacred. To write of them is a sacred act as well. When one writes of them, one has to lay them out first, as cards on the table, exposed, and regard them all, the good, the bad, and the ugly. One then tries to make sense of these thoughts, organize them, decide which ones to hold and which ones to let go, which ones to table for another writing session, and which ones demand immediate attention. The danger comes when something written is taken out of context. Such preliminary, organizational thinking can be misread or misinterpreted by another. Often the polished piece is never written. Meanwhile, the journaler has discovered the solution and implemented it in her life, which does go on, leaving some pages of the book unwritten. But the journaling itself is whatled her to the answer.

I suppose the thing to do would be to write one’s disappointments, fears, sorrows, and other disturbances on paper, then burn it. That solves the problem of privacy, doesn’t it?

However, the journaler has an agenda. A person on the course of journaling is trying to solve the great mystery of life, to answer the questions of life, unravel the knots of daily interactions. Every person is on such a course, whether they realize it or not. We are all searching for answers, and the quality of the answer can only be measured by the quality of the question. We each have questions that we are asking of ourselves, whether we send them out to the universal cosmos, keep them shut inside and never reveal them, or address them to God. They are the big questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What am I supposed to do with this life that was given me? Where will all this living take me?

But clearly I have not answered her question. I only wrote about why I write in my (paper) journal, but not why I keep a blog. The blog has replaced the paper journal for now... I don't know for how long I can stay away from my composition books and pens, for I truly love the act or process of writing.

Although, typing has its advantages, like the ability to have a clean piece free of errors, and the ability to edit at any time without crossing out or whiting out, what I miss most about the paper journal is my ability to draw in them. I can't draw in the blog. Oh, I can find cute and whimsical tags that others have created to decorate the webpages, but I can't add my own illustrations, my own creative response to something that moves me, unless I draw them first and scan them. I have no scanner at this time, so that is out.

And even if I could add my own illustrations, my own illuminations, is that something I want to open to the public?

Why do I blog then? Because, I think, I like having an audience! And I write differently for an audience. I like how I write when I know someone is going to read it. I think I'm a better writer when someone else is going to regard my words. And, there's the response factor. I am interested in what other's have to say about whatever topic I bring up. I like the interaction of blogging.

But, I'm not giving up the pen and paper journal!

I don't think we are so different from the 17th century diarists after all, except as bloggers, we do have the live audience and comment features which they didn't have.

 

Tags: Journaling, diaries, writing