My Blog, My Inspiration

There are many things about myself that I consider slightly geeky. I am in a book club, I like science fiction, and I always liked getting good grades in school. I don't mind admitting all these geeky aspects of my personality, because somewhere underneath it all, I think these things are actually a little cool. Well, maybe these interests aren't exactly "cool," but the fact that I am mature enough to do them and admit them, IS cool. And this proves that I actually HAVE matured since high school (barring the fact that I prefer to communicate with boys via notes). So the newest addition to my collection of "geeky traits" is this blog. Yes--I have a blog (obviously), I post in it frequently (again, obviously), and I love everything about it. So when my blogging friends said "let's have a blog posting contest" the nerd in me enthusiastically agreed to participate. And with that, I will now directly address this month's blog challenge topic: "Why I Blog."

Because this post is not just a regular update entry, and is instead related to something more formal, I feel compelled to fall back on the familiar and comforting structure of the five paragraph essay (we already established that I'm a nerd). So if this is going to loosely follow that structure, I need to state my thesis and cite several specific supporting arguments of such thesis now. My thesis is: I enjoy keeping a blog because it connects me in a unique way to friends and strangers alike.

The blog is the perfect venue to share your life with others. The whole reason why I started the blog was because Y and CH had one and I really enjoyed keeping up on their lives through it. Many times the things I share here are not something I would bring up specifically were I catching up with friends on the phone. So you get a more intimate view of a friend's life via their blog. And I wanted to share those details back with Y and CH...and anyone else who wanted to read about my little existence. Further, I have had an on-again off-again relationship going with diaries my entire life. I love keeping them--to read back on them in the future and laugh at my silly worries and fears--but I HATE the pressure of having to write in them and address those topics which may not always be fun to address. You know those things that are better left in a place called Denial. So it is this way that the blog has replaced my love-hate diary thing. Posting is rarely a chore, and because it is semi-public, I can't get too deep into my own neurosis. Follow the Frog, therefore, has become a more grounded, tolerable and even ENJOYABLE diary for me.

So let me delve in a little deeper into this blogging thing. I have found that keeping a blog inspires me to actually seek out stories to share. I have taken a couple creative writing courses in the last few years, and one thing I have come to firmly believe is that EVERYONE has many tales to tell. And I mean daily. We ALL have at least one story from every day. A blog forces me to find a daily story and make it interesting enough to write about. In the beginning, I sometimes grappled with what to share. Do I just download all my worries and concerns in a journal-like fashion? Do I bring up funny stories from the past? Do I only post when something big and exciting happens? I think though, that I have finally found my groove. I sort of do all the above. So the blog has evolved into a place where I post on the stories of my daily life. But something unexpected has happened in the process. The Blog has actually become the motivation in some ways to go out and FIND stories to share. And it is in this sense that the blog has helped me create and seek new adventures. So now instead of just thinking, "Gosh that barista is cute," I think, "Hmmmm....if I tell the barista I think he's cute, then I'll have a story for my blog." And if such adventures go completely awry and nothing good comes out of it, I will at least be left with two things: 1) a good post--both for myself to remember always and for my friends to read, and 2) I will have grown as a person. In only three short months, the blog has indirectly led me to get a date, face my WBF crush, and make new friends (sort of. This comment is about you KQ and G!).

I mentioned above that I have taken some writing courses. Which means that at some point, I actually wanted to be a writer (I was in a writing club too! Another thing to add to my list of nerd-qualifying activities). After I learned more about how hard it is to become a "writer," visions of a Carrie Bradshaw-esque existence slipped away from me....But in someway, the blog has satisfied what's left of my muffled desires to write things publicly. And so, without sounding too cheesy, the blog has partially fulfilled a one-time dream. (okay, that does sound too cheesy, but that's just the kind of person I am.)

And now for the conclusion. (Here comes the thesis restated for final wrap up purposes). I keep a blog because it allows me to communicate with the world at large. It
gives me a voice. It's fun, it's though-provoking, life-inspiring, and it gets me dates (and sometimes free coffee!). And what's bad about that?

So while the blog thing may be a little geeky, and this challenge even more so, I would just like to point out that you are reading this. And maybe that makes you a little geeky too.