Blogging is a funny thing and in some ways I still haven’t figured it out. When I first heard about “web logs” years ago, I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to post what they do all day, and even more so, I couldn’t imagine why anybody would want to read them. I got a little bit of insight when I saw the movie Julie and Julia; it was a charming story, nicely done as a movie, and I could sort of see why somebody might start reading Julie’s blog… if they were into cooking.
Of course, I heard about political and sports blogs, but I never bothered to check them out… every blowhard can now post their opinion as though they knew what they were talking about: great. It didn’t sound very inviting to me. It never occurred to me that people might post things that could be a blessing to others.
Last year I came upon more and more blogs about things that I was interested in, and lo and behold I discovered that my preconceived notions about blogs weren’t entirely correct; blogs like any other medium can be really a waste of time… and they can also be awesome. When I started blogging, my real intent was to learn to write better and in styles that were different from things I had written before. I would have to say that the results from my point of view are mixed. I have experimented with writing styles that aren’t simply technical, but I’m not ready to say that I’ve improved as a writer; I still seem to mess it up quite a bit. More than anything, I have found blogging to be hard to understand in the sense that there is no rhyme or reason as to blog stats.
Having a business background, I tend to think in terms of patterns of customer counts, predictable sales patterns and so forth. I still can’t see any patterns in blog stats; some days the whole world drops by, and other days they’re all somewhere else, and I can’t see any difference in the kind of content that I’ve posted… Maybe that’s just the way blogs go.
What has been the best benefit to me of blogging is that I’ve come across quite a number of blogs that are a blessing to me every time they post. There are men and women of faith out there who regularly post items that are encouraging, inspiring, sometimes humbling, and that boldly proclaim the truth of a life lived in God’s service. To those of you who post such things, I just want to say
Life Project Blog 
Same here, I love that movie! And I know exactly what you mean about blogging. It was my son who first suggested it to me, and I had no idea on how to begin, so he helped me get started, and now I absolutely LOVE it! I love writing and sharing and yes, it has been a great blessing to me reading and following other blogs as well! Thanks for this post today! Smiles and Blessings to you. – Faith 🙂
Thank you, Faith! I’d have to say that you have done rather a better job of figuring it out than I have!
Thank You, Don. I am glad you decided to blog and glad you read mine. I started in much the same way. My youngest son said “write us a book, Mom, or start a blog, although I hate the word.” And I did. Now I have three blogs that I post to weekly. Each has a different focus http://www.mappingsforthismorning.blogspot.com was the first one. I full intended to close it down when I began http://www.stonesandfeathers.wordpress.com. But the directions were different, and I had a story to tell for each. When I started http://www.kitchenkeepers.wordpress.com it was again at my family’s request because they not only wanted recipes written down, they wanted the story that went with them. – Mary Ann
It is funny how these things work out some times. I also have three blogs, but this is the only one I really keep up; one is about history and the other is just some of the photos I take without any comment… nobody ever looks at them. It is fun to blog, but it’s also work, and the time isn’t always there. One day I hope to have the time to get “serious” about putting together some really quality stuff. Funny thing is I’ve never quite gotten the hang of what kind of quality stuff people will actually look at; the posts that I think are the best ones are the ones that get no hits!! One day… I’ll figure this out! Thanks for what you’ve shared, Mary Ann!