Why do I blog? Is there a purpose? Where do the ideas come from? What do I give away with each post and what do I get in return? In a cost-benefit analysis, do the returns outweigh the expenditures?Some blogs that I write don't really seem like they belong to me. Somehow they already exist in complete form, just floating around out there in the aether. I simply pull them in and they immediately spill out onto the page. Other entries were born after spinning around in my mind for a few hours, a few days, a few weeks. As they simmer in the recesses of my mind, they fill out in form and substance. Threads and shadows take on flesh and bone. Others begin on the page as just a seed, a small naked kernel, that are painstakingly hewn out of the terse, wordless void that can envelop a sudden notion.
Writing a blog, being consistent with it, takes discipline. I suppose that this is much like anything else in our lives. I really do believe that this work, this labor, allows me, at times, to think about ideas that I might not mindfully take the time to consider. Sometimes the writing process is like laying out on the counselor's couch and letting things just come out that need to come out. Sometimes I feel the urge to tackle some topics that are so very personal, to expose myself to the world, to everyone and to no one. At other times, I show my inane and silly and random side with posts about things that amuse me. Somehow these posts are easier to read down the road as I do not have to expend the personal energy to write them. They allow me to avoid any possible tender areas that can sometimes surface.
(Part 1 of 2)
