-- why blog?

Had lunch with a dear girlfriend today. We started talking about blogging, why I blog, why does anyone? Everyone can do it, there are a zillion blogs out there... how do we even find eachother? And does it all ever really matter?

I gave her the wisest, most insightful answer I could think of: "I dunno."

But seriously.

Why blog?

For me, it started as practice with writing, documenting my experiences. But then something strange started happening. I started listening more closely to the rhythms and sounds of daily life. As if the expectation of gleaning some wisdom from the day made my senses sharper, memory more fluid. It's helping me pay attention to life in a way I didn't expect. I love it.

How do we find eachother?

From eachother.

By reading blogs and interacting with them, slowly forming a sense of community. And then the best thing of all begins to happen -- the blog dialogues that start in our heads and end up here reach others and we begin to get feedback.

Honest thoughts, affirmations, validations, giggles, support. (And spam. And flames... but hopefully not much). It's still worth it.

Shoot. This is what people join writing groups for, to get feedback on their words. And here we can create our own community, anytime, anywhere.

Me typing at 11pm in MC Hammer PJs that are made for someone with 7 asses (I only have 6 so they're comfortable), I can reach out in impossible circumstances (like even when I am completely unsuited to be seen in public) and touch people. The internet brings together a true meeting of minds. (Minds scouring for porn but minds nonetheless. :)

And does it matter?

Does it matter to blog?

Yes it matters. If nothing else, it helps you document your own life, make sense of your experiences and digest them, enjoying the journey within. Or without.

So these are the things I was thinking as I drove home from work tonight, looking at the hazy sky obscuring the moon. I pulled over and took this picture to remind myself what it was like to feel the night around me so that when I was warm and comfortable in bed, I could remember the sense of hurtling through space as I felt tonight:

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself. ~Alan Alda

Why do you blog?

If you write about this on your own blog, let me know and I'll add a link here. Or you can comment...