Via Here in the Bonny Glenn, an interesting post on blogging, motherhood and living in surburbia.
This strikes rather close to home for me, especially as I contemplate how to more efficiently manage my time to take on a project seriously that I have been playing at for years. Add to that a husband who may only be home for less than 12 hours ever few days, and you can see where the internet can begin to take on the role of surrogate social interaction.
This blog is a hobby for me, one which I occasionally get frustrated with. After all, I hardly pursue many other hobbies, such as sewing, knitting or crocheting, because there just is not much time left at the end of the day. And I do not have that finished project to hold in my hands when it is over. No scarf, hat or hanging for the wall.
So what keeps me doing it?
1) Social interaction.
Although I have only met two of you in person, I do feel as if I know many of you personally. Checking up on your blogs and interacting via email and comment boxes is like a phone call. Most of my close personal friends have drifted away in the course of several moves and major life changes and I do not really have anyone at the moment that I can just call up because I’m excited about the baby’s new milestone or frustrated because the day is just not going well.
2) A place to write.
I have written all my life, it seems. It is how I think through things. Sometimes, I do not even really know what I think about a subject until I begin to write about it. I collect my thoughts through my fingertips, and am occasionally surprised at where that leads me. It forces me to think my thoughts through, research and make connections I might not otherwise make through the course of the day. This blog has been much more satisfying and intellectually stimulating than the various journals and notebooks I have filled over the years. Because they were private, I never made an attempt at polishing them. I rarely looked anything up. They remain unfinished ramblings describing unfinished thoughts.
3) Intellectual stimulation.
Let’s face it. My oldest is nine. I love each of my children dearly. I love talking and conversing with them. Those conversations are each precious on their own, but they are not very stimulating. That is largely why this blog is not very personal and my personal blog is a little more neglected than this one. I like the social side of those kinds of posts, but I am not looking for that sort of affirmation as much. I am looking more for the convesation that I might normally have over a cup of coffee. Which generally will move quickly into world affairs. I like the discussion and the challenge. I’ve always liked friendly debate and have found a pleasant forum for such discussion.
4. A sense of community.
This is closely tied to the other three, but I really do enjoy the small voice I have in discussions which affect homeschoolers. I have been able to talk to homeschoolers all over the world: Germany, Australia, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada…and despite our varying political and religious beliefs, there is something that unites us as well. Certain things we hold in common which evokes a similar feeling I had running into other Americans while I was living in Germany. All of a sudden, those “other” differences do not matter as much. There is a familiarity that goes beyond social and geographic boundaries.
What keeps you blogging? Or reading blogs if you have not actually started one?
_____
Cartoon from xcd.com
Principled Discovery is a place to stop and discuss news and information related to faith, family and particularly education. Pour yourself a cup of tea and join the conversation! 
Definitely the sense of fellowship and community as well as that it pushes me out of my comfort zone and gives me the opportunity to help and encourage others.
Plus it gives me the opportunity to get my work out there without having a huge marketing campaign.
Usually my brain is too fried for too much intellectual stimulation–I get enough of that at home.
Great question, Dana! Sometimes (many times) I think, I’m quitting this blog thing, but then I think, well, I’m miss so-and-so and how will I know what’s happening with that other gal? It’s a social outlet, for sure. It’s a way to keep smart, too, as I like to do “features” that I have to do a little research for - I NEED to have a deadline, sometimes, and to push me outside of diapers and laundry. Blogging has done that for me, even if I’m not always writing about hugely intellectual things, I’ve found that since I started blogging, I’m much more aware of world news and culture.
When I used to get dressed and go to work every day, I spent my time talking to and interacting with adults. As a critical care nurse, I managed patients whose care needs often involved me making life and death decisions. As a manager, I managed a $4+ million dollar budget.
Now, I spend my time talking to a teenage girl about superficial teenage girl things. I manage dinner, housework and Mount Wash-more. Our household budget is significantly less than $4 million dollars.
Intellectually, I am enjoying going through high school again. I just wasn’t as interested in history and literature the first time around. I was much more interested in science and math. Now, I have to force myself to do science and math.
So, even though in some ways my brain is being engaged in new and interesting ways all day long, I guess I will have to go with ‘Intellectual Stimulation’ too. My brain was getting soggy ~
Jimmie (One Child Policy Homeschool - linked in my post) talked about this same thing last week. I responded to her post with my own thoughts, too. Here’s the link: http://theten0clockscholar.blogspot.com/2008/02/blogging-why-mommy-blog.html
Seems like a number of us find it meets many of the same needs for intellectual stimulation and community. It really is a unique thing for our generation, isn’t it?
I blog for many of the same reasons you do, but the two most important are the friendships and the opportunity to get to write. It’s therapeutic…it’s fun connecting with others….and I love seeing how other people live their lives. It’s inspiring!
That is something unique to our generation! And maybe a welcome development since it has become so easy to go from your house, to your garage and into your car, going through most of your daily routine in fact, without ever even having to see your neighbors.
I forgot about my source for news…without television I really do get a lot of news from reading the free online content. : ) I like listening to the radio, but it gets frustrating. With everything else, I usually notice that something is interesting just as the story is finishing. So I try to hold on to some pieces of the information to look up later.
Kerry, thank you so much for the link! I’ll comment over there later, but I think you are exactly right. Especially about the passive bit. This is like talk radio brought to everyone who wishes to have a voice on any topic. It forces you to think and interact with others. You cannot just accept what you hear…and very often you can track down a lot more information and history on the stories presented in the MSM.
I get frustrated with the superficialness of the “small talk” in most of my face-to-face social interactions. I enjoy discussing “meaty” issues and the opportunity to do so IRL is limited. The ones in my social circle who share those kinds of interests typically work long hours. I hate to stereotype, but too many SAHM’s I know seem to have let their brains go to mush
My answer… all of the above. Totally agree.
As you can see from the trackback, little things like that comic are often enough to keep me clicking on blogs! Too funny!
I think you’ve hit the major points on why I blog too. Sometimes I too think about giving it up, but I have made some blogger friends that I really care about and want to keep up with!
Crimson Wife, you are so right about the chance to talk about meaty issues — plus doing it in writing gives you the chance to really think about what you want to say and express yourself fully, and then really read and reflect on the person’s (or persons’) words.
What Dana said.
Oh, I get to create my own definition here. Blogging is not in Webster’s 1828!
I started blogging to think through my educational philosophy. I had no idea how much I would enjoy connecting with other homeschool moms. The interaction, challenge, and encouragement are my motivations to continue writing.
Also, you mentioned the sense of community. Before I started blogging, I had no idea what other homeschoolers were going through. I knew different states had different requirements, but now I appreciate the liberty to teach my children even more. And I want everyone to have that freedom.
P.S. The links aren’t working.
I’m so glad this discussion started by Jennifer is taking off! If for no other reason that other people’s responses validate my own feelings on the subject
I weblog for social interaction. I am an introvert homeschooling an introverted child. I think I’d fall of the face of the earth entirely without the internet.
I also weblog because I am a writer who is homeschooling a young child, which means I only have the time and energy to write something the length of a blogpost every day. So my weblog has become my outlet for my creativity. Which is a good thing and a bad thing. If I wrote a post-length towards a book instead, I’d have several novels completed by now!
I loved your comic! Brilliant.
Oh, Crimson Wife, I’m afraid I agree with you there! Although maybe your SAHMs are like me…and they muddle through the small talk because they think that is what you want to hear. : )
I think conversation has been killed by the acceptance by so many that there are two subjects you do not breech in polite company: religion and politics. So all that is left is sports, the weather and “small talk.”
For you, Renae:
JOURNAL, n. jur’nal. [L. diurnum. This was originally an adjective, signifying daily, as in Spenser and Shakespeare; but the adjective is obsolete.]
1. A diary; an account of daily transactions and events; or the book containing such account.
Which would make us not bloggers, but journalists. : )
Another related question: Is the medium of the internet so different from paper that blogging and journaling are really two separate things?
You hit on most of the important reasons to blog. I write for own pleasure and hope what I write is worth a glance from others even when they don’t leave a comment. I’d blog even if nobody read mine because it gives me a chance to define my thoughts as daily issues arise. Thanks for having a nice place to visit.
I began blogging for purely selfish reasons and found all of what you mentioned above to come with it–then I was hooked!
I wanted a place to record things: thoughts, ideas, events. Something to look back at and see what was going on. I have very little opportunity while at home to talk about what I think about: my kids are not really that interested in my deeper thoughts and my husband has a one tracked work mind–if it isn’t work related he can’t seem to muster the energy nor interest to really listen and converse. I began blogging because I wanted a venue to keep my skills somewhat active (although my blogging is nothing like my writing; it’s more like my speaking than anything.) I began blogging to keep in touch with friends I had met on-line who moved from message boards to blogging.
So what it started out to be has evolved into so much more.
I could sooo relate to the cartoon you posted!
Lori
CrimsonWife & Dana, I agree that small talk is beyond annoying. I’m incredibly bad at it in any event. I’ve seen ladies who are able to have something to say to everyone in a crowd, though, and I’ll bet that takes a lot of intelligence. I’d be lucky if I were able to summon the courage to say, “Hi!” to about two people. I might even be bold enough to tell one of those two people that I like her scarf or something similar before retreating back into my corner and going, “OH! That was a stupid thing to say! That’s what I get for talking too much!”
Agree with much already said. Blogging does remind me of journaling, but with instant feedback & some healthy guilt if I don’t write regularly. Could do without the spam attacks, though.
It’s a nice escape, particularly after a long day @ work, too.
I’ll be honest…I started blogging to try to drum up a bit of traffic to a small business I was trying to promote. It helped a bit. Along the way, however, I discovered that blogging was immensely satisfying for me on a personal level. I found my eyes being opened to ideas, thoughts, and philosophies which I had not before been exposed to. My own thinking has been stimulated by the desire to blog with some degree of “substance”. I have been incredibly blessed by my interactions with a whole new circle of “friends”…friendships that have become, in a very short period of time, very important to me. I agree with Crimson Wife, that these conversations lack the superficial tendencies of so many of my casual “face-to-face” relationships. Not sure why that it…but it’s very true.
I no longer really care about marketing my business. I’ll find more effective ways to do that. I blog because I love it and I love what it has brought to my life. Blogging has become an almost necessary part of my life. I can’t see stopping anytime soon.
Dana,
I had to laugh at the little cartoon you posted. I can’t tell you how often I hear the same question from my dh - “Are you coming to bed?” Only he already knows the answer, and sometimes he actually phrases the question that way, “Are you still solving the world’s problems?”
So why do I blog? Beyond the reasons you listed, all of which are true for me, I can think of several.
1) I blog because it helps me think through issues. Too often when I’m talking or just thinking to myself, my thoughts tend to ramble. Blogging forces me to focus, to find just the right words, to revise, until I actually KNOW what I think rather than just having a vague idea about it. It’s more valuable than simple journaling, because having an audience is an important part of the process for me.
2) I blog because I hope to persuade people. I guess I think my opinions - and the reasons behind them - are valuable enough that other people ought to hear them!
I hope that once in a while someone will read my posts and find them thought-provoking or even persuasive.
3) I blog because I think it helps other people. If I can encourage someone to homeschool who is wondering whether they can/should do it; if I can support a discouraged parent or help someone to think a different way about schools or homeschool or history or Christianity or . . . , then I think the time spent blogging is worth it.
In short, I guess I blog because I think it makes a difference - in the way I think myself, or in the way someone else thinks or feels about something. And making a difference is what I’m really all about anyway, you know?
Dana - I’m sorry to comandeer your comment section, but I cannot find and email link on your blog. Sorry if I just missed it.
I wanted to tell you I’ve given you the “Blogging with a Purpose” Award! You can read about it here: http://theten0clockscholar.blogspot.com/2008/02/id-like-to-thank-academy.html
You are doing an awesome job!
There’s a picture of my email address in the sidebar, but this is fine. I hope to eventually put up a contact page, but I have to find the time to figure out how. So that could be a while. : )
Thank you for the award…I’ll pick it up later. : )