I'm a husband, father of three, blogger, podcaster, author and media geek who is hoping to live a simple life and follow The Way.
View all posts by Jonathan Blundell
8 thoughts on “Why do you blog?”
I've been asking myself the same question of late. I don't know how many folks read my blog and sometimes wonder what would happen if I spent more time away from my MacBookPro… and the ol' nanolog.
My blogging used to be about “the whole of me” and it still is, I guess. Its letting my nearest and not-so-nearest know what's going on in my life. Its about expressing my opinion and of journalling the times that make my life worth living.
Sounds similar to some of my thoughts. I'm glad you blog & tweet “the whole of you.” I enjoy that! It's your story and your life. I haven't found that proper balance yet in sharing “the whole of me” on my blog. I think because many of my close friends and family aren't interested in the same things as me – so they tend to skip over those posts of non-interest. And because I tend to keep so many irons in the fire – my blog tends to lack specialization of any kind. However, I would say that initially blogging was a way for me to share my weekly newspaper columns as well as interesting tidbits I found around the web. I was tired of being the “email guy” so I decided to move to a blog and journal my thoughts there instead. My blog has taken on several different directions over the past 4 (almost 5 years) but it still remains a place for me to journal what interests me/or concerns me and a place to make connections with others — like yourself. All that to say — keep blogging Thomas. Keep blogging.
Yeah Twitter changed some of my habits as well. I don't share links like I used to here or write about what's going on in my life as much either. I figure I've already shared much of that on Twitter – as far as my day to day goes.
I don't know, which is probably why I haven't updated my blog in a long time. I used to do it to publicly think through some stuff, it was also a way to say what was going on in my mind about a variety of things. But now it just feels like a chore, probably because twitter lets me do that more quickly and easily, though of course less verbosely. So I just don't seem to blog anymore (and really over the last six months or so I've been reading less and less blogs too; not sure what that is about either.)
Yeah it can be tough trying to come up with content all the time. I'm glad Twitter helps me share stuff “in between” posts. I've gotten to where I'm only writing when the inspiration hits – but I'll write a post several days (if not a week) out. So usually when I have the time on the weekends I write 4 or 5 posts and schedule for the rest of the week. But every now and then they catch up with me… doh! I've found this to be helpful, but also sometimes a pain as I write something and I really want to publish it right then and get the feedback. I have to debate – is it worth pushing it out right away – or would it be better to hold off at least until tomorrow 🙂
I guess I blog because I stumbled upon a few blogs I enjoyed reading*, lurked for a while, started to leave a few comments, then decided I'd like to contribute a little more to the dialog.
*notably Pernell Goodyear, TallSkinnyKiwi and Headphonaught.
I guess I'm in transitional mode at the moment. As is the case for lots of us, Twitter has become the initial starting point for many of my initial rumblings, yet I'm keen to ramp up what I do on my blog. A change of platform is likely, and I'm seriously toying with the idea of being more entrepreneurial with another blog.
Ultimately, though, for me it's about community. I love the dialog. I enjoy the sharing, and I'm completely stoked about some of the fast friends I've been able to make through the blog.
I'm interested in your idea of another blog. I'm working on some of those ideas as well.
The community is a big factor for me as well. The comments and dialog help me know people are paying attention – and help me gauge/work through my ideas. Otherwise I feel like I'm just writing for myself and might as well just get a moleskin journal instead (but even then my tendency to share my ideas would probably make that frustrating :-)).
I've been asking myself the same question of late. I don't know how many folks read my blog and sometimes wonder what would happen if I spent more time away from my MacBookPro… and the ol' nanolog.
My blogging used to be about “the whole of me” and it still is, I guess. Its letting my nearest and not-so-nearest know what's going on in my life. Its about expressing my opinion and of journalling the times that make my life worth living.
Tx
Sounds similar to some of my thoughts. I'm glad you blog & tweet “the whole of you.”
I enjoy that!
It's your story and your life.
I haven't found that proper balance yet in sharing “the whole of me” on my blog. I think because many of my close friends and family aren't interested in the same things as me – so they tend to skip over those posts of non-interest.
And because I tend to keep so many irons in the fire – my blog tends to lack specialization of any kind.
However, I would say that initially blogging was a way for me to share my weekly newspaper columns as well as interesting tidbits I found around the web. I was tired of being the “email guy” so I decided to move to a blog and journal my thoughts there instead.
My blog has taken on several different directions over the past 4 (almost 5 years) but it still remains a place for me to journal what interests me/or concerns me and a place to make connections with others — like yourself.
All that to say — keep blogging Thomas. Keep blogging.
Yeah Twitter changed some of my habits as well. I don't share links like I used to here or write about what's going on in my life as much either. I figure I've already shared much of that on Twitter – as far as my day to day goes.
I don't know, which is probably why I haven't updated my blog in a long time. I used to do it to publicly think through some stuff, it was also a way to say what was going on in my mind about a variety of things. But now it just feels like a chore, probably because twitter lets me do that more quickly and easily, though of course less verbosely. So I just don't seem to blog anymore (and really over the last six months or so I've been reading less and less blogs too; not sure what that is about either.)
Mostly I blog because it is a creative outlet for me. I really enjoy blogging but I only publish posts once or twice a week.
Yeah it can be tough trying to come up with content all the time. I'm glad Twitter helps me share stuff “in between” posts.
I've gotten to where I'm only writing when the inspiration hits – but I'll write a post several days (if not a week) out. So usually when I have the time on the weekends I write 4 or 5 posts and schedule for the rest of the week.
But every now and then they catch up with me… doh!
I've found this to be helpful, but also sometimes a pain as I write something and I really want to publish it right then and get the feedback.
I have to debate – is it worth pushing it out right away – or would it be better to hold off at least until tomorrow 🙂
I guess I blog because I stumbled upon a few blogs I enjoyed reading*, lurked for a while, started to leave a few comments, then decided I'd like to contribute a little more to the dialog.
*notably Pernell Goodyear, TallSkinnyKiwi and Headphonaught.
I guess I'm in transitional mode at the moment. As is the case for lots of us, Twitter has become the initial starting point for many of my initial rumblings, yet I'm keen to ramp up what I do on my blog. A change of platform is likely, and I'm seriously toying with the idea of being more entrepreneurial with another blog.
Ultimately, though, for me it's about community. I love the dialog. I enjoy the sharing, and I'm completely stoked about some of the fast friends I've been able to make through the blog.
Grace & peace
J
Good stuff!
I'm interested in your idea of another blog. I'm working on some of those ideas as well.
The community is a big factor for me as well. The comments and dialog help me know people are paying attention – and help me gauge/work through my ideas. Otherwise I feel like I'm just writing for myself and might as well just get a moleskin journal instead (but even then my tendency to share my ideas would probably make that frustrating :-)).