I recently received an email from an old friend that wanted to keep in touch more. He has been reading my blog and seemed to think that you had to be proficient to blog. I actually think a better barometer of whether you should blog is if you have the time and whether there is something you are passionate about. Passion is easy for me, but time is certainly an issue. For me it takes a long time to blog, though I'm getting faster as I go on.
As you all well know, I picked gardening as my passion to blog about. My sister-in-law wondered why I would pick that with all the things I do. When I decided to blog, I had to pick a subject. I didn't want a generic blog about me. I immediately came up with two subjects, gardening and conversations with my daughter. The second is immensely more interesting. My daughter is in the autistic spectrum and her mind is quite fascinating. She certainly doesn't think like anyone else I've ever met. However she doesn't talk much and is off at college for part of the year. So there would be very few entries. I really wanted to blog daily. The garden is a perfect subject for this as it changes every day - at least in the spring through fall. I'll see what transpires in the winter.
The big question is why blog at all. Everyone has their own reasons I'm sure. My friend, I think, would do it to keep in touch, which is not an unusual reason to blog. Many people have personal blogs that their families read. My reason is, I think, very unusual.
I have been beadweaving as a profession for six years now. Before that I was programming; before that momming; before that painting; before that I got my degree in chemistry. I tend to hop between things. I love to learn. Beadweaving is very methodical for the most part. For some things that I do it is very creative, but there is still a lot of production work. Even the creative parts use only a small part of my brain. The rest stagnates. I thought about taking classes again, but instead decided to write.
Writing for me is hard. I'm not horribly bad at it. I did succeed in APing out of my freshman English course in college oh so many years ago (ignore the sentence fragments I'm always putting in my blog). But I struggle; I'm slow; it is hard for me to write; and it challenges me.
My first choice in writing wasn't actually to blog. It was to write short stories. I really think I couldn't do that alone. I needed someone to bounce ideas off of and to contribute their own ideas. I asked my son if he wanted to collaborate. His answer was a vigorous "NO!". Darn. That would have been fun.
So I blog for the challenge of it. At some point it will be some other challenge, but for now it is blogging. One should never become complacent with their lives.
Hi Daphne, I found it interesting to read that you do beadweaving. It is always fun to here more about the people behind the blogs we read.
ReplyDeleteSome days I ask myself why do I blog. After all, don't I have enough things to do in one day? But for me it is sharing my passion(s) with the world as well as the creative side of blogging that keep me doing it. It is another type of outlet for me. Plus you get to meet the neatest people through your blog! That is what keeps me going at it.
I found your post interesting today, thanks for sharing it.
I do agree. One of the fun things that I didn't expect about blogging was meeting all the wonderful people, from all over the world.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting post. I'm always curious as to why gardeners blog. I started blogging because I wanted to keep a journal of sorts of my experiences gardening, and now my blog has become a place for sharing info and getting advice.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that you blog as a challenge and actually make yourself write when you think it is hard. That takes a lot of drive; you do a great job for someone who doesn't really like it to write.
ReplyDeleteWriting comes easy for me and always has. I blog because I have so much to say I am bursting sometimes. It is a little bit of therapy, also. I just started my fourth blog, I only wished I could type as easy as I can write.
I love to hear about why others blog too. Everyone seems to have a different story. But for most, they love to write or they have something they are compelled to share.
ReplyDeleteI'm actually a reasonably good typer. I took typing when I was in junior high (my mom made me, not because I wanted to). I was the best typer in the class. My writing is so much slower than my typing.
You have a lovely garden Daphne. The reason I blog is to remind me to do things in the garden that would otherwise be forgotten. Thats the idea anyway. How easy are egg plants to grow yours look great? Nathan
ReplyDeleteThank you. So far the eggplants have been very easy. The only thing that has been bothering them is flea beetles and that unknown wilt. They are the Slim Jim variety, so not very large. I'm growing them in black plastic, like I for my tomatoes.
ReplyDelete