No matter what the question, I love poetic responses that touch on the known before veering off wildly into the mysterious and the imaginative.
However, the question, "Why bother to blog?" begs a more structured, rational answer. It is true, as the poem implies, that blogging can be an attempt to connect with like-minded readers, to make connections in an unpredictable and sometimes indifferent world. We need to know that somebody out there hears us.
Blogging is also about connecting with others from a position of strength and confidence. We want to share what we have learned through experience, by reading or by thinking about a particular topic.
Ed-tech professor Martin Weller tells us that blogging "exposes the process" so that novices can "observe, and to an extent participate with, experts in action." Weller's focus is academic, but blogs can teach practical skills as well. Personally, I have used blogs to discover how to make self-watering plant containers, sew historic costumes, and to learn how to weave. I enjoy seeing other people's works-in-progress, sharing their successes, and learning from their failures. I really like knowing what NOT to do before I cut into expensive fabric or spend hours warping a loom.
I could say more, but I cannot say it better than Gloson, a perceptive twelve-year-old in Malaysia. He blogs because "helping people gives you happiness." When you give of yourself to others, in some way you are also always blessed.
TODAY'S LINKS
"Some More Reasons to Blog" by Martin Weller
"Twenty-Two Reasons for You to Blog" by Gloson
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