This is something I have thought about quite a few times; many of these thoughts originate from mental conversations in my own head when I have been convinced that I should kill the blog for good or blog much more often than I do or, upon opening the blog of another, being reminded that my blog sucks and theirs is chocked full of beautiful pictures & prose that I will never attain.
More and more I am seeing what I will call the “professionalization” of blogs in general; and although, initially, I am apathetic to this development that I cannot prove through statistics or links or, well any item of actual proof- nonetheless, I know it is occurring. More like something I sense through the same ambiguous abilities that make me stop and check my unzipped fly. Because, although, I do appreciate the added effort that many folks are putting into their blogs these days, I simultaneously mourn the loss of what they were supposed to be: a home for unfinished thoughts. All creatives need some sort of safe place to be able to do what they do without regard for how it was received. While technology has made blogs simpler, I suspect fewer people are actually wading in- due to fears that there blog won’t receive lots of traffic, or be retweeted, or be an everyday event like the ones they like the most.
Our story has allowed me to live both sides of the equation. I started my first blog so I wouldn’t have to call a bunch of people and tell them that we had bad news. They could read it instead. And blogging has changed my life. I know that sentence is ridiculous, but it is true. It was through writing for that simple blog that my son’s story was told, and that I myself discovered a ration for the journey ahead- one that I now do not know how I would have processed my season of love, loss and grief without. I wonder if I would have started that blog today? I doubt it.
Since, I’ve had people encourage me in my writing, although truth be told, it is one of the only things I am insecure about. And when I started the blog, I had never written anything for public consumption. Thanks to Oprah and the Today Show, we’ve had baffling traffic numbers and visitors from countries I cannot pronounce. And there are quite a few web gurus who could have made sure I captured more followers along the way or built a stronger platform for blah blah blah…
But I never started a blog to build an audience. And if one happens to gather, I want to keep doing what it is that got them there in the first place: I want to tell a story. The unfolding story of my life. And it takes great faith to believe such contains any material worthy of starting a blog, but I believe it does. For me. For you.
#1 Document:: I use the blog as a way to remember. What happened. What did I think. The truth is, we can all look back on life with various mis-shaped lenses. Writing it down helps me remember not only the events, but my thoughts on them as they unfolded.
- It is Anders 1 year birthday today! Birthday’s are big deals at the Mooneys. I often look at him and long for days ahead when we can talk and shoot baskets, but I have been praying for ways to relate to him now, because I know the beauty of each moment, and I do not want to miss one by gazing ahead.
#2 Process:: Many times I cannot articulate precisely how I feel about a given issue until I write about it. The physical act of writing it down requires committing to- at least for now- the way I feel. This was and is a godsend for the journey of grief.
#3 Community:: Both for the community I exist within & for some sort of online community.
- First of all, I will write what I might not say- or what we may not get around to if we go to dinner- as I may be focused on making sure the rascals don’t get ahold of the salt & pepper.
- In the online world, we have received much encouragement from folks we have never met. I hope we give some as well.
Could I do achieve these ends by many other avenues? Undoubtedly, yes. But blogging has forced me to do so when I would have chosen otherwise.
Let me know what blogging has done for you? Even if your blog is small, personal and just about your family…I think these are the best there are.
9,636 Comments
This is something I have thought about quite a few times; many of these thoughts originate from mental conversations in my own head when I have been convinced that I should kill the blog for good or blog much more often than I do or, upon opening the blog of another, being reminded that my blog sucks and theirs is chocked full of beautiful pictures & prose that I will never attain.
More and more I am seeing what I will call the “professionalization” of blogs in general; and although, initially, I am apathetic to this development that I cannot prove through statistics or links or, well any item of actual proof- nonetheless, I know it is occurring. More like something I sense through the same ambiguous abilities that make me stop and check my unzipped fly. Because, although, I do appreciate the added effort that many folks are putting into their blogs these days, I simultaneously mourn the loss of what they were supposed to be: a home for unfinished thoughts. All creatives need some sort of safe place to be able to do what they do without regard for how it was received. While technology has made blogs simpler, I suspect fewer people are actually wading in- due to fears that there blog won’t receive lots of traffic, or be retweeted, or be an everyday event like the ones they like the most.
Our story has allowed me to live both sides of the equation. I started my first blog so I wouldn’t have to call a bunch of people and tell them that we had bad news. They could read it instead. And blogging has changed my life. I know that sentence is ridiculous, but it is true. It was through writing for that simple blog that my son’s story was told, and that I myself discovered a ration for the journey ahead- one that I now do not know how I would have processed my season of love, loss and grief without. I wonder if I would have started that blog today? I doubt it.
Since, I’ve had people encourage me in my writing, although truth be told, it is one of the only things I am insecure about. And when I started the blog, I had never written anything for public consumption. Thanks to Oprah and the Today Show, we’ve had baffling traffic numbers and visitors from countries I cannot pronounce. And there are quite a few web gurus who could have made sure I captured more followers along the way or built a stronger platform for blah blah blah…
But I never started a blog to build an audience. And if one happens to gather, I want to keep doing what it is that got them there in the first place: I want to tell a story. The unfolding story of my life. And it takes great faith to believe such contains any material worthy of starting a blog, but I believe it does. For me. For you.
#1 Document:: I use the blog as a way to remember. What happened. What did I think. The truth is, we can all look back on life with various mis-shaped lenses. Writing it down helps me remember not only the events, but my thoughts on them as they unfolded.
- It is Anders 1 year birthday today! Birthday’s are big deals at the Mooneys. I often look at him and long for days ahead when we can talk and shoot baskets, but I have been praying for ways to relate to him now, because I know the beauty of each moment, and I do not want to miss one by gazing ahead.
#2 Process:: Many times I cannot articulate precisely how I feel about a given issue until I write about it. The physical act of writing it down requires committing to- at least for now- the way I feel. This was and is a godsend for the journey of grief.
#3 Community:: Both for the community I exist within & for some sort of online community.
- First of all, I will write what I might not say- or what we may not get around to if we go to dinner- as I may be focused on making sure the rascals don’t get ahold of the salt & pepper.
- In the online world, we have received much encouragement from folks we have never met. I hope we give some as well.
Could I do achieve these ends by many other avenues? Undoubtedly, yes. But blogging has forced me to do so when I would have chosen otherwise.
Let me know what blogging has done for you? Even if your blog is small, personal and just about your family…I think these are the best there are.
9,636 Comments
-
on January 27, 2011 at 2:21 pm
First, thank you for blogging. Your thoughts and questions often open up a whole new world to me, and yet I feel that I can so easily relate to it.
So I guess I blog for all the same reasons. When I first started blogging (at HUBERnews) I did it to document our path to serving overseas, but also to serve as our touchstone. Where we could see our prayers and aches, and then look back on them, seeing how God provided. Then I started a new blog (http://riverintowords.blogpost.com) because as a mom, missionary, and wannabe writer, I was struggling with many issues that just didn’t fit on our ministry blog. It’s just for me, and thankfully, for other women who find themselves living in strange lands, or strange situations, without a working compass. Oh, and also, I blog as a kind of prayer… I think the only person I’m really talking/writing to is Jesus. That sounds more spiritual than it is, but it keeps me honest.
Thanks for your heart(s), Mooneys.
-
on January 27, 2011 at 4:19 pm
Thanks for this. I think of quitting mine often, as I wonder about the purpose. But yesterday, through a divinely orchestrated series of events which began by a stranger reading my blog, a woman in Haiti was given a chance at a new life. So, I will keep writing!
-
on January 27, 2011 at 6:11 pm
Happy Birthday Anders!! What a special time! Really! Our little guys are so close, we celebrated Caleb’s 1st birthday last week. I was re-reading through your old blog, Eliot’s blog. He inspired me today, I have been going through this funk, as I posted about on my blog. Anyway, you and your hero (wife) inspire me as well. Thank you. Even though I never met him, I miss Eliot and wish I could have met him. I’m sure Ryan and Eliot are good buddies. Take care!
-
on January 27, 2011 at 8:53 pm
I originally started my blog as a way to keep family that are in other parts of the country up to date on our day to day life and to post pictures of the kids. My blog is still just a small, family blog. I probably have less than 10 people that read it, but I don’t really care. I am not trying to win any popularity contests. I just love documenting out lives. It is so easy to forget the funny little things kids say and do, but with my blog, I can go back and be reminded of those things.
And I have to agree that blogging has changed my life as well. Not because of what I write but because of other blogs that I read. I have learned so much since I became a blog reader and am constantly inspired and amazed by the strength of those dealing with difficult situations.
-
on January 29, 2011 at 2:47 pm
I so love your blog! I started my blog back in 2007 and just about a journal about my feelings and my journey with the LORD. Thank you so much for your blog..its an inspiration to me!
-
I so love your blog! I began my blog back in 2007…just a journey of my faith and what my thoughts may be..GOD used it to bring so many wonderful Christian blogs to read and its so changed my life!
-
just realized i posted twice..blonde moment!
-
on January 30, 2011 at 8:49 pm
matt,
amen and amen. blogging has helped me remember and reflect on my intimate, intentional, intense time in london. I read back over it, and I feel what I was feeling then. I gain perspective on life now. I am thankful for an outlet to write.
it is beyond cathartic for me, as well.
kym.
p.s. happy birthday, anders, and I sure do miss me some mooneys!
-
on January 31, 2011 at 10:20 pm
I started blogging because after reading several blogs (mostly DIY, home decor type stuff) I was inspired to start doing that myself. I wanted to join in the conversation about wreaths and nesting and making your abode lovely, things that I earnestly wanted to do for myself.
I’ve too struggled with my little blog and it’s simplicity, and used other blogs as a yardstick by which to measure myself and my abilities. I’ve seen the ones with thousands of “followers” and hundreds of comments, and prize worthly pictures and thought that my own little blog was laughable at best.
However I’ve really seen a shift in what I now see as the “purpose” of my blog. It’s for me. To use my brain in creative ways. To think thoughts out loud that I can’t share with my kids, or an adult (cause none are around at the moment). To journal thoughts on being a mother, a wife, a homemaker, the day to day stuff that is meaningful and mundane all at the same time. To talk about and ponder my relationship with my Creator, to put into actual sentences things that I’ve been playing over and over again in my mind for many years. To have words to read that reinforce to me that as imperfect and unworthy as I am, God still lavishly loves me and has a purpose for me.
-
on February 1, 2011 at 10:24 am
I use it as my online scrapbook and a journal of sorts. My 3 yr blogaversary is coming up this month. It has helped me process a lot of jumbled thoughts in my head. As a mother of two, i dont think i would have been able to remember much if I hadn’t blogged about it all these last 3 years.
Keep it up!
-
on February 12, 2011 at 2:06 pm
You do bless others. Keep it up, please!
First, thank you for blogging. Your thoughts and questions often open up a whole new world to me, and yet I feel that I can so easily relate to it.
So I guess I blog for all the same reasons. When I first started blogging (at HUBERnews) I did it to document our path to serving overseas, but also to serve as our touchstone. Where we could see our prayers and aches, and then look back on them, seeing how God provided. Then I started a new blog (http://riverintowords.blogpost.com) because as a mom, missionary, and wannabe writer, I was struggling with many issues that just didn’t fit on our ministry blog. It’s just for me, and thankfully, for other women who find themselves living in strange lands, or strange situations, without a working compass. Oh, and also, I blog as a kind of prayer… I think the only person I’m really talking/writing to is Jesus. That sounds more spiritual than it is, but it keeps me honest.
Thanks for your heart(s), Mooneys.
Thanks for this. I think of quitting mine often, as I wonder about the purpose. But yesterday, through a divinely orchestrated series of events which began by a stranger reading my blog, a woman in Haiti was given a chance at a new life. So, I will keep writing!
Happy Birthday Anders!! What a special time! Really! Our little guys are so close, we celebrated Caleb’s 1st birthday last week. I was re-reading through your old blog, Eliot’s blog. He inspired me today, I have been going through this funk, as I posted about on my blog. Anyway, you and your hero (wife) inspire me as well. Thank you. Even though I never met him, I miss Eliot and wish I could have met him. I’m sure Ryan and Eliot are good buddies. Take care!
I originally started my blog as a way to keep family that are in other parts of the country up to date on our day to day life and to post pictures of the kids. My blog is still just a small, family blog. I probably have less than 10 people that read it, but I don’t really care. I am not trying to win any popularity contests. I just love documenting out lives. It is so easy to forget the funny little things kids say and do, but with my blog, I can go back and be reminded of those things.
And I have to agree that blogging has changed my life as well. Not because of what I write but because of other blogs that I read. I have learned so much since I became a blog reader and am constantly inspired and amazed by the strength of those dealing with difficult situations.
I so love your blog! I started my blog back in 2007 and just about a journal about my feelings and my journey with the LORD. Thank you so much for your blog..its an inspiration to me!
I so love your blog! I began my blog back in 2007…just a journey of my faith and what my thoughts may be..GOD used it to bring so many wonderful Christian blogs to read and its so changed my life!
just realized i posted twice..blonde moment!
matt,
amen and amen. blogging has helped me remember and reflect on my intimate, intentional, intense time in london. I read back over it, and I feel what I was feeling then. I gain perspective on life now. I am thankful for an outlet to write.
it is beyond cathartic for me, as well.
kym.
p.s. happy birthday, anders, and I sure do miss me some mooneys!
I started blogging because after reading several blogs (mostly DIY, home decor type stuff) I was inspired to start doing that myself. I wanted to join in the conversation about wreaths and nesting and making your abode lovely, things that I earnestly wanted to do for myself.
I’ve too struggled with my little blog and it’s simplicity, and used other blogs as a yardstick by which to measure myself and my abilities. I’ve seen the ones with thousands of “followers” and hundreds of comments, and prize worthly pictures and thought that my own little blog was laughable at best.
However I’ve really seen a shift in what I now see as the “purpose” of my blog. It’s for me. To use my brain in creative ways. To think thoughts out loud that I can’t share with my kids, or an adult (cause none are around at the moment). To journal thoughts on being a mother, a wife, a homemaker, the day to day stuff that is meaningful and mundane all at the same time. To talk about and ponder my relationship with my Creator, to put into actual sentences things that I’ve been playing over and over again in my mind for many years. To have words to read that reinforce to me that as imperfect and unworthy as I am, God still lavishly loves me and has a purpose for me.
I use it as my online scrapbook and a journal of sorts. My 3 yr blogaversary is coming up this month. It has helped me process a lot of jumbled thoughts in my head. As a mother of two, i dont think i would have been able to remember much if I hadn’t blogged about it all these last 3 years.
Keep it up!
You do bless others. Keep it up, please!