Why Do I Blog?

I was inspired by Kim Ayres' post to copy him and write my own :D I'm not really participating in the meme, which asked "What do I expect from my blog?" Instead this follows more the spirit of Kim's post in that it tries to explain why I blog. This is mostly for my benefit, but we're all a little curious, aren't we?

I'm a little bit afraid to post this because I'd simply be rewording a lot of what Kim said. He mentioned that he blogs not because he has to write, but because he has to be read, to feel that he's made an impact on the world, to feel validated, and I really relate to a lot of that.

I started blogging on a forum a few years back because I wanted a place where I could be heard. I wanted a place that people wanted to come to, to read what I had written. And I guess today that's still the reason I blog. I suppose that's a reason a lot of people blog.

Kim also mentioned that he blogs to communicate. To pass on ideas and stuff. I can relate to that too. I don't have the need to educate, but I do feel a deep need to entertain. To make people smile, or laugh, or think, or just plain react. And I guess that relates to validation as well. If I can do that, then I've done something, I'm worthy, I'm a part of their experience.

I think that need to entertain motivates (or motivated) my music playing. I loved the sensation of playing in front of a crowd. You feed off their energy, and I suppose that's how I get with blogging as well. I LOVE the comments. It's possibly unhealthy how much stock I put into the comments. It's a bad start to the day waking up, checking the emails and there's no comments.

As far as a desire to write for writing's sake, I don't think I've ever written anything truly for or to myself. When I dabbled in poetry as a teen to express my angst, I always tried to share it. All my music was meant to be shared. My short stories were meant to be shared (of which, admittedly, there is only one). Pretty much everything I've ever done has been done with the knowledge that it'd be shared with someone.

But this is about why I blog, not why I do everything. So, back to the topic at hand. Aside from wanting to feel like I matter, I blog for the regular reasons. I'm highly opinionated. I love the way blogging can open up a miniature community. I love hearing from people who have gone or are going through similar things that I'm going through. And I love hearing from people who have had different experiences from me.

And of course, like Kim mentioned, I blog in the hopes that someone will discover me and offer me millions of dollars to keep on writing thoughts about nothing in particular :D

So that's why I blog. That's what I get out of it. And that's why I'll continue to do it. Oh, and I know this isn't exactly a meme, but if any one wants to answer that question who hasn't already, by all means feel free, just leave me a comment to let me know you did :D