Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Why blog? A question revisited.





Yesterday Saphron left a couple of comments. (Thanks!)

She posed several good questions. First:

Hmmm, you do like to bring back those posts from the past, don't you? :D

In following several other blogs I've gotten to know the writers much like I "know" some the authors whose books I've read. I remember the earlier posts, as if they were the opening chapters in a book. Authors of books often provide foreshadowing. I'm good at picking that up. But on a blog, it seems as if foreshadowing still occurs, but it is more unintentional. Blogging is often a way of self-discovering what we really think is important. I like to point out to a blogger what they said in earlier posts. It shows that 1) I'm listening, and 2) Hey, you've answered your own questions!, and 3) You're achieving your personal goals!

What Saphron pointed out was that I even do it on my own blog. I check for internal consistency, personal growth, and inside jokes. ;-)





Her next question really got me thinking...

Did you ever think you'd be blogging this much? I'm glad you do; you're always ready with a good dose of truth and beauty.

I never thought I'd blog daily. I really started this blog so that I could comment on my daughter's blog. I still comment on her blog, but in blogging I've found an outlet for sharing my thoughts, pictures, poetry, and humor in an unanticipated manner. Like Moses and the shepherds, I was curious, involved, and subsequently blessed.

Saphron also provides the key to why I continue to blog: personal feedback. Writers need their readers. The positive feedback I get from my readers provides me with the motivation to keep writing. I've thought for some time that I'd like to write, but I could never get motivated enough to do the daily work involved, until I met "blogging." But it's not really blogging that provides the motivation, it's the response from other bloggers. So, here's a shout out Thanks for all who have read, and especially to those who have commented and in doing so have encouraged me to keep writing and sharing.




And Saphron's third "question:"

The poem is interesting. I always wonder about those tiny-slice-of-life poems, how the poet ever decides on that one moment.

"The Delight is in the Details!" (There, another self-referential comment.) I think poets, like all writers, pick the moments that they remember. That's how I do it. Much of writing is at least semi-autobiographical. What's important we remember. Since most writers want to write about what's important, they write about what they can remember: the details, the vignettes, slices-of-life that seem to contain import. Someone said, "I really don't know what I think about a topic until I write about it." I think that's a lot of what writing is: self-discovery.

A lot of what reading is then becomes co-discovery as we learn with fellow authors about being human, becoming more human, and enjoying the companionship of other like-minded travelers who are willing to "talk" as we walk shoulder to shoulder through life.

Short questions. Long answers. Thanks for asking.



4 comments:

  1. Hi Don,

    Apologies for not sending more encouraging words recently. I've had a flu-like virus, which has laid me low. I managed a couple of posts to OMW and Laura Jayne's blog, but that's been all.

    I think Saphron asks some wise questions, to which you provide truthful and pertinent answers. I hadn't intended to blog as much as I do. I started writing one only because my Media Studies students have to keep one as part of their course requirement now.

    However, I've found it immensely satisfying both writing about issues that interest me, which helps me reflect on what I do and what I'm about, as well get to interact and receive meaningful feedback from lots of people all over the world. It's far preferable to Facebook, foe example, which I find now to be tedious and meangingless in comparison.

    Anyway, I have a bunch of Theseus and the Mintotaur tests to mark, so I shall bid you adieu.

    May the wind stay at your back and the road rise up to meet you, as they say on the small island not too far from me.

    Sacha

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  2. Ok, one more quick posting. I couldn't help but peek at the OMW challenge today. It's to write a poem about an online friend you haven't met. So, I've written a poem about you, Dan, and Laura Jayne.

    Dan lives
    In a 19th state of mind.
    Perhaps he is a Hoosier?
    He captures life through lenses,
    He is a magician of light,
    A conjuror of the ether.
    He writes me often and we
    Talk only in words that never are spoken.

    Don makes dreams
    Out of every day chores.
    He lifts up the needy,
    Gives children hope in the face of calamity.
    He is a man of faith, a man of God,
    A man of conviction.
    He philosophizes on the small stuff
    So he can understand the bigger picture.
    His words can seem like riddles
    Which can only mean
    I'm not thinking hard enough.

    Laura Jayne transforms
    My thoughts into actions,
    My ideas into verse.
    If the gods of ancient Greece
    Were alive today
    In the minds of men,
    She'd be one of their virtual muses.
    Her online presence
    Is a temple to the arts,
    Where good minds meet
    To make the remarkable happen.

    The web link is here: http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com/2008/12/todays-writing-prompt-online.html

    All the best,

    Sacha

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  3. I'm so happy you blog. You've become a great blogging/writing pal. I can really appreciate the point you made about writing community, being able to communicate and support like-minded people is a true gift. Thanks for blogging! :)

    P.S. Also thanks for your hummor and wit!

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  4. Thank you for answering. :) I really feel honored.

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