Dear Blog

Dear Blog,
I apologize for my absence and disloyalty. I know it's not your fault, but I just found myself more attracted to the new and glittery twitter, pininterest, instagram, and iPhone app form of Facebook. I'm not saying you need to be newer and more glittery, the fault is all mine. Besides, these things are no longer new nor are they glittery (the latter may be because I need to clean the surface of my phone, but that's beside the point).

Since it is the end of the semester I could pull out the usual excuses about being so busy with grading, etc.  but as you can see I am not doing that; I am being completely honest with you about my behavior.

Now I need you to be completely honest with me. What are you good for? I yelled this at Siri one time and she pulled up a list of everything she had been programmed to do, but that's not really the kind of answer I'm looking for here. I really want to know how my blog benefits something or someone. Lets say I devote an hour a week to a blog post, plus all the brain space that goes into thinking "is this blog worthy?" every time I experience something or read something or hear something (plus the brain space to keep straight what is appropriate material for Facebook vs. twitter vs blog).

This is not a break-up speech, please don't look at me like that. I'm just trying to have an honest, genuine conversation. A reassessment, time for reflection, kind of thing. So here are a few of my thoughts about why we are good together, and I'd love to hear yours of course:

Selfish reason #1: our culture is so busy, we leave little time for reflecting. Its hard to grow and learn without time for reflecting. The time I spend blogging is a form of reflection that will help me learn and grow.

Selfish reason #2: blogging can improve my writing because it's less restrictive than academic writing, encourages creativity, and at the same time its public nature holds me accountable to a higher quality of writing than would a private journal.

Selfish reason #3: supposedly blogging can be good for your career if you create enough traffic and create a niche for yourself. I'm still not sure that I want to turn this blog into a career pep rally for myself, but I gotta admit that reason lurks somewhere in the back of my mind.

Selfless reason #1: I'm going through a transition period that a lot of people go through (moving, starting a new job) and perhaps people can learn from my mistakes and not have to make those mistakes themselves.

Selfless reason #2: people enjoy being part of a community, and blogs can help people feel a sense of community. People who read my blog and are able to connect with something fundamental in it may feel a sense of belonging they need.

Selfless reason #3: I cannot think of another selfless reason, which points to my initial hunch - that this blog is more for me than for anyone else. I wonder if that matters or not?