A blog post by one of my favorite bloggers – Chris Brogan – has me revisiting why I bother blogging. Is it to make money? No. Is it persuade others to adopt my beliefs? No. Is it to promote my personal brand? No. Is it to teach? No. I blog simply to share some of me with you. And sometimes you give me an incredible gift: you share some of your life with me. There is magic in that exchange.
The real reason I blog is to leave some history behind, something to help connect my life with my family, friends, and associates. It isn’t about teaching or convincing others. Rather, it is about sharing bits of who I am and what drives me, so that others may know me better.
Narcissistic you say? Absolutely. My excuse? We are all so incredibly busy in our lives that we rarely have time to stop and really listen, in the moment, to someone else, at the same moment that person is reaching out.
I’ve been thinking about this for the past week while resting at home, ill. It seems like a paradox: when I feel well, my life is filled with activities, and when I feel ill, only the most important things get addressed. I find myself with extra time when only the most important things get done.
Why do we focus on the unimportant things when we are at our physical, emotional, and mental best? Why do we focus on important things when our capacity is diminished? What might happen if we changed this pattern, and addressed the important things when our capacity is greatest?
“Why do I blog?” may be a metaphor for “what is the meaning of life?” Am I on this planet, in this time window called a lifetime, to simply clock in and out of each day? Or am I here to accomplish something greater?
And if I’m not here to accomplish something greater, could my purpose be to create others who will, or assist them in their journey? How does synergy play into the meaning of an individual life?
Unlike so many self-professed gurus, I don’t have glib answers. I do have lots of questions. When I revisit the history of my life in the context of my purpose in the here and now, I come up with many questions. Even though I’m getting senior discounts at some establishments, I still wonder what I’ll be when I grow up.
A blog lets me capture some of those questions. Blogging lets me capture snapshot moments in time that are meaningful to me, and share those with others on a timeline that is convenient for them. My blog will provide a scrapbook for those close to me, because the funny thing about the inevitable is while you may postpone it, you can’t escape it.
I suppose there are some personal brand benefits to sharing. But I don’t share everything. If you follow me, you probably recognize I rarely talk about politics or the environment. This may be a mistake, because those topics are outward manifestations of deeper core values. But in my life I have found the labels tend to create barriers that block the getting to know the real person behind the label.
I have friends who are deeply conservative. I have friends who are amazingly liberal. I value them equally, because the important label is friend, not conservative or liberal.
So why do I blog? It is to share who I am in a way that allows others to receive those transmissions at a time and place when they are receptive rather than resistant. It opens my heart and mind to what you may be willing to share with me.
Why do you blog? If you don’t blog, why not?
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All GREAT reasons to blog, Tom. Great reasons. Sir Richard Branson kept notebooks for the 35 years he's been in business, just to write down notes to remind himself of how things went. I used to "journal" when I started 11 years ago. Same thing as you described, basically .
Now? My site's changed. It's partly a product of where things went with me. I write because I want to equip others. Now, I use Facebook the way you use your blog. Somewhat different, but similar.
I blog, just because I want and some times I look back and I think:
"Wow, I did this!"
Just wish I had more visits tough.