Why Blog? Why Now?

The obvious answer to this is of course, ‘Why not?’  I, however, could think of many reasons ‘why not’ whenever it was suggested to me to begin blogging.  The biggest one being: anybody and their uncle can write anything and put it up into the nether-land of cyberspace for all to see regardless of quality.

And then I remembered that was one of the main reasons I’d balked at recording my first cd.  As a working musician, I’d done demos and was busy with gigging, teaching and performing.  After all, anybody and their uncle can record anything for all to hear regardless of quality; it is all so easy to do these days…

Aha!

So that’s a good reason to disregard this idea of starting up a website blog?

I think not.

A new surge of energy coursed through my fingertips as I googled the phrase ‘Why blog?’ Before my eyes, posts from some very intriguing website blogs were listed within the first two pages of the search results.

Hmmm, I like these guys: scientists, goat-lovers, gardeners, mathematicians, writers (of course), and a host of other diverse types; all connected by the need to share their passion with others.

While content is indeed alluring and important, it was this entry from gardenwalkgardentalk which struck a particularly poignant chord within me:

“Another thing that prompted blogging was my health.  I wanted to make sure to have a piece of my life live on virtually in case I didn’t, so I started recording things in my life through my art and photography…It is a way for others to see the world as I do…Blogging is simply about what interests the writer, but also what engages the reader, otherwise there is no point in putting the content out there…I will be gone by the time this post reaches you the readers…I will be traveling…“

Did you do the double-take, too?  I quickly looked at her photo; yep, mid thirties.  Upon further investigation, she was referring to a conference she was scheduled to attend during her usual blog posting date. Whew.  But that bit about leaving something of yourself in perpetuity pulled at something deep within me…

 I decided I wanted in on this community.

Armed with a copy of Sarah McHarry’s WordPress To Go – How to Build a WordPress Website On Your Own Domain, From Scratch, Even If You Are A Complete Beginner given to me by my encouraging hubby, I boldly began this business of building my own website blog.

But why now?

My vignettes and little list pieces have been enthusiastically received by an assortment of followers, readers and critiquers these past few years, but have received little exposure beyond that limited audience.  In a quest to put my Swimming with Swans: vignettes of our journey between homes in completed manuscript form to present to agents, I came to realize that even if a publisher picked it up, it’d be many years before more eyes and hearts would get to experience it.

That bothered me.

I needed someplace to showcase my writing, give voice to our between-homes journey and perhaps even enlighten others of the parallel communities filled with invisible ones living among us in 21^st Century America.  And blogging is yet one more tool to get what needs to be said out there.

Do I feel vulnerable?  Yes.  But as an artist I know this deep drive to share, this burning compulsion, is not something to be ignored.

Ultimately, no matter how true I believe my writing and music, my art, to be, if those receiving it don’t feel engaged or touched or moved by it, then I have not created (he)art. And while the message is important, the (he)art created in the telling of it is what pulls readers into the realm of that very message.

I don’t usually write New Year’s Resolutions, but the start of 2013 rang in with this thought in mind (using ‘art’ in the larger sense of the word):

My writer/artist resolution: To tell stories/make art that’s important to me, writing and creating with more courage and determination than ever before, because I am in charge of my writing/art and this is what the Lord has for me for Now.

Perhaps this website blog is a natural unfolding of that resolution during this year.  I do know part of the challenge for me has been more along the lines of ‘courage to finish’ various projects rather than the ‘determination to create.’

Why is courage necessary for me to finish?  I’m not certain, but I find it interesting that much of this relates to my current call to focus on the ‘now’ in order for the ‘next’ to occur.

Viewed that way, I step back, take a deep breath and dive right in…come follow along with me if you wish.

Why Blog? Why Now?…Why Not?