Introspection Ain't All It's Cracked Up To Be

Blogging is cathartic, and everyone knows that. Anyone who can put a sentence together (and some who can't) who starts (and continues – aye, there's the rub!) a blog usually has something to say that they just can't seem to say during the course of normal conversation (i.e. verbal communication). It's funny, but to a writer of any merit, it becomes increasingly difficult to verbalize what is so easy to type on a keyboard (or write out longhand, as some writing purists claim is the only way to effectively create true philosophy). As my writing skills are certainly subject to occasional raised eyebrows by those people whose sole joy in life is to find misplaced commas, I don't claim to be the best at any attempt to write, whether it be poetry, novels or, in this case, blogging. But, I have noticed that blogging takes a certain amount of mental stair climbing to the top of the cranial cavity to find inspiration to write. Which, of course, means that sometimes those carefully sealed boxes marked Do Not Open While Drinking A Glass Of Wine have to be dragged to the forefront and dealt with. Normally, you'd never talk to anyone about some of the things you'd happily jot down in a diary (or, as the new generations call it, "journal"). You can pour out all your emotions on paper, twist the words into mysteries and romance novels and heart-wrenching prose, but never in a million years would you say the things you write out loud.

Blogging requires a certain amount of introspection, and there are times when that's good and times when that can be quite disconcerting. My blogging time is usually reserved for early dawn, before the brain has time to shake off the raw innocence of sleep, before the suit of emotional armor has been laboriously donned for the day ahead. And, because of this, the thoughts that ensue from the mind to the keyboard can be eye-opening. You can learn a lot about yourself from the subject matter that you find compelled to blog about. You start to see developing patterns of thought pour out. You learn your pet peeves, your egotistical needs and your fears as you read your previous posts. Psychologists must have a field day reading some posts.

Blogging can strengthen your natural ability to write, but weakens your natural ability to be social. Having said that, what I mean is that you relieve yourself of the need to run with the pack. Blogging can update friends and family on what's going on in your world, but it dilutes your need to see them or to call them or even to send them individualized e-mails or letters. Blogging has become the Xeroxed Christmas Letter that some people still send at the end of the year, which is paper-shredder fodder for me.  

In defense of blogging, it does publish to anyone who wants to read it, your ideas and concerns, your rants and raves, your place in the world. It opens the possibility of conversation and discussion. Blogging is recommended for mental acuity and as an exercise in discipline. Blogging allows you to share photographs, comments and experiences. Blogging is green, saves paper and time. Blogging is free. Blogging is universal, international and insightful. Blogging is the short story of a life, the new novel of the 21st Century.