Last night I closed the book on the life stream experiment in tumblr. I have kept the tumblr account, but sanitised it, renamed it, and filed it away for a rainy day.
It was fun, but was ultimately unrewarding - and gave me a few insights into why I blog, why it’s of value to me at the moment, and why I have continued to write here while struggling with the idea of doing so at all.
It turns out - for me at least - that writing a blog isn’t just about me. It’s also about those that read, and those that comment. It turns out the community surrounding blogs - no matter how sparse it may seem at times - is the glue that holds everything together. The friends I have made over the years are the primary reason I return.
In a world where much of my day and night is taken up with “normality” (as in career, chores, family life, caring for children, etc), it’s easy to lose sight of who you are - sharing thoughts via blogs like this one helps retain a sense of self.
I sometimes worry that writing a blog seems tremendouslynarcissistic- self serving, and self congratulatory at times. I also forget that this outlet is but a small part of a much bigger, much more complex, busy, stressful, tiring life. It’s an escape - and at times, a valued one.
Here I can ponder thoughts, shoot the breeze, share inanities. It’s a mental playground filled with similarly wandering soapbox philosophers.
We share a few minutes of each other’s day, we listen, we relate, and we pick each other up - ready to start the next day, and the one after that, and the one after… you get the idea.