The hardest part about having a blog on a website is that when you don't actually post on a regular basis and you come back to it you clearly see just how long it's been! Sigh. And the basis for this post.
I've been going round and round on this in my mind for quite some time. What is the difference between posting on my blog and journaling in my personal journal? I'm sure no one else could care less but I feel some sort of obligation to at least post something periodically and started wondering why I can't seem to.
I journal daily. Have for years. I have so many completed journals tucked away, each representing a period of time in my life. Each journal is filled with a variety of different entries. Some are thoughts and feelings that I feel safe to share there on the pages. Sometimes it's about what I did the day before or something special coming up. Other times it's about work. Or walks and work-outs. Just day to day things. The pages tell a story of life - ups, downs and everything in between. Mundane and magical.
So what's the blog about? Well, the obvious is that it's not something that I open and close daily and tuck away for personal use only. It's on a website. It's accessible by anyone who chooses to read it.
And because I am always one to look into the meaning of a word (although this one can't be found in my trusty Webster 1828 Dictionary) I decided to look into what a blog is. What does it mean to have a blog and what is the purpose?
Of course I utilized all the new "dictionaries" out there, and here's a few things I found:
1. "A blog is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries. Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page."
2. noun: blog; plural noun: blogs
*a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.
verb: blog; 3rd person present: blogs; past tense: blogged; past participle: blogged; *gerund or present participle: blogging
add new material to or regularly update a blog.write about (an event, situation, topic, etc.) in a blog.
3. Market or Promote Something. Blogging is a great way to help market or promote yourself or your business, product, or service. This means you can sell something online through your blog or you can use it merely for informative purposes.
Ewww...#3 is a big turn off for me with respect to marketing and self-promoting. No thank you.
There's this movie I really, really love and one of main characters has a blog. And in an argument between her and her spouse about how much she is blogging, she defends that that's what a blog is, it's about her all the time. I love that line in the movie and watching the story unfold, not so much in real life though. Another ewww meaning of "blog."
And so why am I writing this? Why am I so fascinated today about the blog on my website, how long it's been since I posted and why I still prefer to journal daily? Not sure.
What I do know is that I try to blog when I feel it's something that if someone stumbled upon it, what is written may cause them to pause and think. To ponder. Or to remember. Or be encouraged. Or challenged. Or just enjoy a little read.
My daily stuff doesn't belong on a blog. Trust me.
But when those journal entries expand, my thoughts run wild and the pen goes faster than I can keep up with., that's when I get that feeling like it's worth sharing with others. And that's when I post in my blog.
So as I get to the end of this post, I've answered my own question that I started with. Lol, sometimes that's what happens when you put it all in writing. Guess I figured out "why blog?"