why i blog

So, I started thinking about the short history of my blog the other day, and I asked myself the pertinent question: why is it that I blog? I think the reason has evolved a bit from what it started out as, and that evolution was a good thing. I think that the ability to step back and reflect on why we do something is often one of the most effective learning tools that we have at our disposal. This inner dialogue with ourselves can provide some interesting insights.

I first started this blog a short time after I shut down my old website (which was primarily a means to share my growing library of digital pictures with friends and family). I had been experiencing a rather refreshing resurgence in my spiritual life, and I felt like my faith was leading me on a rather interesting journey. With everything that was going on, and all the ideas that were ricocheting around my brain, I felt the need to unleash some of the torrent so I could reflect on it later or perhaps share it. I tried typing up some conversational material in a document form, perhaps as a group discussion primer, but something just didn't feel right about it. I realized that this document sitting on my computer wasn't doing anyone any good, especially me - I needed feedback, or at least a feeling like what I was writing wasn't totally cracked. Having seen that a close friend of mine had started a blog to spark some digital conversation about faith in today's society, I figured maybe a personal blog would do me some good - and that maybe it would help me unearth some local people with similar struggles. Hence, one of my first posts was really a cry for help, "Am I crazy, is anybody out there? I would really like to sit down and talk." Once I made myself realize that blogs don't just automatically attract visitors, and that I needed to invite people, I kind of switched gears to just writing about things that came to mind - an online journal of sorts that I could share if I needed. I kept my audience small, a close friend or two, and I posted about interesting articles or where my faith had lead me. I never wrote anything I would consider superbly profound, just a different perspective perhaps. However, after about a month or so of blogging I hit a stride that worked for me. I wasn't actively looking for feedback, but when I got it I truly appreciated it. I wasn't looking to force my ideas on anyone, I was just writing about stuff I felt compelled to write about. I got more comfortable and quite honestly, my writing improved dramatically. I don't delude myself with thinking that anything I write is groundbreaking, brand new, or 100% original and unique. I'm just a guy blogging about what he experiences and perceives as I go about my daily life.

I suppose I've beaten around the bush enough, seeing as I haven't answered my own question. I've touched how and what, but not really why. Why do I blog when there are millions of other blogs out there and certainly many written by people with more credibility than I have? It's actually pretty simple...

I blog because I have to - I am compelled share my faith journey as I experience it. I write when I am hit by something that just has to be shared, whether that be an actual encounter or some new perspective on an old topic I was intrigued with. I write this blog on some off chance that a person will stumble upon it and say to themselves, "hey, I am not alone, someone else has been there and lived through it." This is the one medium in all the world that I most am comfortable communicating through, and so I make my amateur effort at sharing Jesus' message through my own interaction with the world. So, welcome to my existence - one of experiencing faith through everyday experiences whether that be music, movies, the Internet, nature, or whatever other curveballs life throws at me.

So now out of curiosity, why have you stopped by to read my blog?
(That's my sneaky way of asking who it is that reads, but open endedly as to stimulate conversation)