I've been asked recently why I blog, so I thought I would share my thoughts here. The best way to begin to answer this question is show you some pictures. This is my spice drawer.
The spices are ordered alphabetically and they are all labeled. My friends and family like to annoy me by rearranging them.
This is a picture of the the cabinets in the kitchen I designed.
The women I work with insisted I was crazy to want white cabinets ("They'll get dirty.") with glass fronts ("You'll have to keep them neat.") I was not swayed by these arguments. I have a huge selection of pottery that I wanted to show off instead of hide behind a door. I love the colors and shapes that you can see.
These two pictures say a lot about me. My friends in grad school called me "anal retentive." My dissertation advisor hated this term, so he called me ABC - A Bit Compulsive. It's true, and because of this, I have a very hard time letting my work go unless it's perfect (see comment about perfectionist in my profile). If it weren't for my dissertation advisor prying my work out of my hands, I would be ABD and endlessly rewriting.
I know that good writing is never finished, that writing well is all about revising and rewriting, but I never seem to feel like my work is at a point where I can say it's "done." This is why I blog. I want to write more, need to practice, and must learn to let it go. Whether the writing here is mundane, academic, or silly, it gives me a chance to work on my writing, allows ideas floating around in my head to see the light of day, and encourages me to keep going. So, that's why I started blogging. I keep going now because I have been embraced by this amazing community that is the kidlitosphere and I want so much to be an active part of it. I hope in some small way that I am contributing as much to the world as these wonderful folks offer to me.
That's my story. Why do you blog/write?
The spices are ordered alphabetically and they are all labeled. My friends and family like to annoy me by rearranging them.This is a picture of the the cabinets in the kitchen I designed.
The women I work with insisted I was crazy to want white cabinets ("They'll get dirty.") with glass fronts ("You'll have to keep them neat.") I was not swayed by these arguments. I have a huge selection of pottery that I wanted to show off instead of hide behind a door. I love the colors and shapes that you can see.These two pictures say a lot about me. My friends in grad school called me "anal retentive." My dissertation advisor hated this term, so he called me ABC - A Bit Compulsive. It's true, and because of this, I have a very hard time letting my work go unless it's perfect (see comment about perfectionist in my profile). If it weren't for my dissertation advisor prying my work out of my hands, I would be ABD and endlessly rewriting.
I know that good writing is never finished, that writing well is all about revising and rewriting, but I never seem to feel like my work is at a point where I can say it's "done." This is why I blog. I want to write more, need to practice, and must learn to let it go. Whether the writing here is mundane, academic, or silly, it gives me a chance to work on my writing, allows ideas floating around in my head to see the light of day, and encourages me to keep going. So, that's why I started blogging. I keep going now because I have been embraced by this amazing community that is the kidlitosphere and I want so much to be an active part of it. I hope in some small way that I am contributing as much to the world as these wonderful folks offer to me.
That's my story. Why do you blog/write?
I blog because I love to write.
ReplyDeleteI think that's it. I love to write. I craft most every email. Even parent letters.
I blog because I love to write.
(On an entirely different note, go here for great spices: http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html)
You are giving back... Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWould you please come to my house and organize it?
ReplyDeleteI blog to share, to participate, and to write. Taking the time away from my real life is certainly not helping my house clutter situation, but I can live with the mess far more than I can live without blogging.
Mary Lee - I LOVE Penzey's! On my last trip to NYC I dragged my sister to the market in Grand Central just so I could buy spices!
ReplyDeleteNYC Teacher - Thank you dear, and ditto for you!
MR - When I was growing up, my mother always told me I should be a paid organizer (and this was long before it was fashionable). Now I satisfy my urges by helping my best friend organize her elementary classroom at the beginning of the school year. When she moved to a new school and had to start on a new room, I was in heaven!
Trica,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was teaching, I had the most organized and orderly classroom in my school. My house is another matter. I clean and organize...then the other side of my personality messes things up. No visitors to my house ever get to peek inside my closets. I am anal retentive, ABC, AND ADD!
That's quite a combination.
I've wanted to be a writer since I was ten years old. I wrote school plays, song parodies...and now I write children's poetry. Blogging has given me the opportunity to hone my prose and share my love of children's literature--especially poetry. I'm a perfectionist about my writing, too. Blogging also helps me "let go" of my writing.
I like this post, T.
ReplyDeleteI blog because I like to write too, and it's easier to pretend I am talking to someone or in conversation when it's online. And it makes me edit/refine more than I would in a journal... well, sometimes...
I blog primarily to keep me involved with children's lit while I take a temporary break from it to work at home and be with my girls while they're very young.
ReplyDeleteI love your blogging reason. I hope you're up for a 7-Imp interview one day so that you can talk about it more!
Tricia, blogging is just so great, isn't it? I guess I could paraphrase Grace Paley and say I blog to see what I think.
ReplyDeleteI blog because I so enjoy being part of this community of people who care about children's books, creating them and helping kids to love them. I also identified with what Mary Lee said, about carefully crafting every email and letter. I like sharing my thoughts in the more polished forum of a blog more than I do in a discussion group, or simple email exchange (though those can be fun, too). Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all for your wonderful comments. And Jules, I'm up for it, but so not worthy!
ReplyDeleteI blog because writing's lonely, because community is fun, because I have ideas with no other outlet for 'em, because the web can be uniting, and because I, too, want to write more. The community, as many have noted, has turned out to be such a wonderful place that I'd keep blogging now simply to stay part of it. Go figure!
ReplyDelete