Blog Therapy

Amy this one's because of you! ;)

A few days ago I, and maybe a few of you, were wrongly accused of having too much time on our hands. I laughed! But then I started to ponder.

My life is insanely busy. Not a day passes that doesn't end with me recounting the day and finding all the things I didn't accomplish. Not because of laziness or poor time management skills (well, OK, better time management would probably help), but mostly because there is just not enough time in the day.

So here is the question that I was pondering: Why do I spend what little free time I have blogging and reading my friends blogs? Here is what I came up with.

Because I love it!

Question #2: Why do I love it? That answer takes a little longer to explain.

I have never been good at staying in touch. I would go so far as to say that I stink at it! (let the snarky comments begin :) ). This particular short-coming is something that I have truly been trying to overcome lately. But it's hard; really hard. It's just not in my nature. Then I got introduced to blogging. For the first time in my life (seriously) I feel like I am making some real progress towards staying connected with my long-distant friends. I love that I can read about the day-to-day life of my friends and that they can read about mine, if they want. I love being able to write one post and know that several people can read it whenever they want, on their own time schedule. There is no pressure. I feel more involved with those of you whose blogs I read than I have since we each moved. It's great! I also think it is really fun when someone who has been reading for a while without commenting, suddenly decides to pop in and join the conversation. It's like a welcome surprise visit.

Now, for those of you who don't have blogs of your own or who don't ever leave comments, please know that I am not slighting you at all. This just works for me, and I'm really excited about it! I know that this kind of communication doesn't work for everyone; far from it. It's just so fulfilling to finally find a solution to a problem I thought I would always struggle with.

The next thing that I discovered as I pondered this new pastime was just how touched I have been by many of your posts. I am astounded by the range of thoughts, ideas, and feelings I experience due to the things we share in our blogs. I have felt my testimony grow as I read about your testimonies. I smile at your kids' antics. I sympathize with your concerns. I laugh out loud at the fun things we all do. Overall, reading each of your blogs gives me hope, perspective, and a growing desire to be a better person. Thank you!

I guess the skinny of it is that blogging is like therapy to me. I need it right now.

The last issue I want to mention, just as a post-script, is about the time we spend making our blogs look pretty. After all, Amy, I know this is what you were really talking about. Making my blog look nice is kind of like putting make-up on in the morning (not that I ever do that, but you get the idea). This is the face I am presenting to the world and I would like it to look its best. I also want it to reflect who I am. I want to accentuate the positive. So it's worth spending a little extra time on it.