I've been thinking about that question a lot lately.
Why do I blog?
I've always said that I was thinking out loud, more or less. That I was putting my thoughts and ideas into words to better understand them and work through them. I wanted to hear feedback on what I was thinking. I wanted to share some of my heart and life.
Then too, I think I felt like I had something to prove. I felt like I had been screwed over by a lot of people who I never thought would treat me like they did... talk about me like they did... and do the same to my wife and friends. I wanted people to know that there was logic and reason and sincere passion behind what I was going through and the changes in my belief systems. I have been called (and still get called) some interesting names, and was always on the defensive. At the end of the day, I don't think I wanted to convince anyone to believe like me--I just wanted them to understand that it was okay for me to not believe what/how they believed.
I had such a huge chip on my shoulder, and its carried on for a few years. There have been some lingering reminders of things that I haven't let go of.
But I've found myself moving on. I've found myself learning to let go of a lot of the pain and anger I've carried around for a while now. I'm not changing the world here. I'm not convincing anyone to think any differently than they already do. Besides, I'd rather do those things in the real world, through real action and real conversations with real people.
And I've also found myself with less of a desire to post entries on here. Ergo, I've been thinking about deleting this blog for a while now. I don't know if I'd stop blogging altogether, but I'd stop with this blog. Its titled a certain way for specific reasons. If I were to simply blog about my life, it would need a makeover and a new name.
I haven't made up my mind yet. I don't know if I'm writing this to get your input or just to tell you what I'm thinking about. At some points, I've had up to 100 individuals checking this blog on a daily basis. Some weeks I've had hits in the thousands--which, to me, sounds like a lot for some no-name dude in south central Kentucky writing a blog. Recently, however, I've kind of leveled off at 25-40 individuals reading along regularly. So, to those of you who care: maintain the usual? Blog about heated issues in Christianity and politics and such... or drop most of that and just blog about life and include more pictures?
Just curious.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Why do I blog?
Posted by JD at 8:03 PM
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5 comments:
blog about heated issues in Christianity for sure. People learn so much about themselves and find true faith through dealing with the difficult questions and dealing with the people who aren't afraid to stomp on a few toes. Blog on my brutha
I say you should blog about what you are thinking about.
If you are thinking through the implications of process theology on how we understand creation and thus creation care, then write a blog about it. If you are stoked about your trip to Gary Indiana, write a blog and post pictures. If you are pissed off at something Sean Hannity said, then blog about that.
Of course all that is driven by my own thoughts on blogging. I blog for me and not necessarily for my readers (for the most part). If people enjoy a voyeristic look into my mind and life through my blog, then so be it.
I have found my most popular posts (and consequently most of my hits) come from individual posts that are found on google. People read them because of that specific topic and not necessarily because they care about my thoughts on the topic. (It's funny to see that about 1/3 of the people who read my posts on universal health care get there because they are looking for quotes against universal health care.)
So I say blog on (and don't delete your old posts). Change the name, design and format if you want, but keep blogging. If you feel a mighty change coming on, then I would suggest spending the $20/yr on your own hosted wordpress site and domain.
I think you should blog about whatever you want to, whatever you feel or think at the moment. And if you do start a new one, let me know, so I can follow it.
I like controversy, I think you know that about me...haha
Dude, I read your blog with great regularity these days, and as with my own rants/musings, you're at your best when you talk about things that you both care about deeply, and know a lot about. That means, as Kickert said, that you should in fact blog about what you're thinking about. I'm pleased to see you've taken a meta-analytical view of yourself, but you don't really need to; it's not like you're on here yelling about how the aliens are coming to get us, or that the President is a secret "Muslin"... your writings are worthwhile. Never doubt that.
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