Why I Blog

Wow, I have been MIA lately with the ol' blog. Honestly, I'm blogging all the time, in my head. If only I could immediately transmit what I'm thinking I want to blog about directly from my brain to my computer! I would be the blogging queen.

But alas, the kids, the dog, the dishes, the grocery shopping, life, gets in the way.

Just so you know, it's 9 p.m. and my dishwasher has not yet been emptied, the sink is full of dishes, toys are strewn across my livingroom floor and the decorations from a baby shower I threw TWO DAYS AGO are still neatly piled on my dining room table. Let's not even talk about the laundry spilling over the hamper. Nope, not even going to go there.

I'm ignoring all of it. I am going to write. Then I'm going to bed with a clear conscience, knowing I did something really productive.

I've been thinking a lot lately about why I like to blog/write and why I love to read blogs. Why do I enjoy reading about the lives of perfect strangers (Though, some are not strangers.) Why do I feel the need to share my life happenings with other people?

I think sometimes why I don't blog more often, besides the lack of time, is that I second guess why I blog. I question why on earth anyone would want to read about my boring life anyway?

The other reason, I'm coming to realize, is that I want to be completely honest when I write; but I'm afraid.

Why?

Oh, there's a million and one reasons.

You really put yourself out there when you speak your heart, share your fears, admit your failings, recount those little moments in life that make you laugh. You are there for others to either adore or criticize. Or even worse, ignore. Oh, and you can't take it back. Once it's out there, it's out there. In black and white. No takebacks.

But here's the thing. The blogs I love to read and go back to over and over again are exactly what I fear people won't want to read. The heart speaking, fear sharing, flop failing, funny moments of life. Whether I know you personally or not, I relate. I connect. I know someone else is going through the same stuff. And even if I read a blog where someone's life is completely different than mine, I love that too.

So......if I like to read blogs like that, I can write a blog like that.

There's a little more to it, though. Since I was very young, I loved to write stories. I loved to daydream and make up all sorts of scenarios in my head. I still do. When I was in the 6th grade my teacher gave us the black and white marbled composition book. That was the beginning. My love of writing sprouted and has been growing ever since. Oh, there have been some times where my writing has been all but dormant. For awhile I even thought I had forgotten how to write. God has given me a desire to write, though. That's the best reason to do it, don't you think?

So I will write about my family. (What I love to talk about the most.)
I will write about being a mom with all the joys and frustrations that make up mommyhood.
I will write about what God is teaching me; what He is showing me. I think about this subject all the time. I should be writing about it!
I will write about how an elementary teacher with almost no homemaking skills to speak of has a become a stay at home mom who is now into all things homemaking, with a beginning garden and sewing machine!!
I will write to encourage others.
I will write to connect with others.
I will write to journal about this amazing life God has given to me.
I will write because I love to write. As simple as that.