Why I Blog

Someone told me once that I had no business blogging if I were going to say anything theological and then not engage in whatever debates might arise from it, and then this person told me I ought to shut down my blog. That conversation crosses my mind whenever somebody asks, "So why do you do that?" or "Don't you think you should consider using your time in a different way?"

I started blogging because Maggie's open-heart surgery was coming up. With previous surgeries, there were SO many phone calls to make, so many people waiting to hear the news from each day. Hospitals now having "caring bridge" websites which certainly help with updating the loved ones. Instead, I started a blog.

Now, I blog for a couple of reasons. One is to show pictures of my grand-daughter to my mommy. (I really ought to put up some pictures of the house too.) Similarly, it lets me keep my kids and my mommy and a few friends up-to-date on the mundane aspects of life, so that during phone calls we don't have to get up-to-speed on those things.

Another reason to blog is because sometimes there are things I've figured out that other people want to know: kombucha brewing, or my bleach-and-milk stain remover, or stove-cleaning. A blog is also a handy place to store recipes or to share them with friends who asked for a particular recipe.

And then I also blog about things that I'm pondering from church or about something Pastor said that I want to remember. I don't write those things for anybody but me; it's an entirely selfish endeavor. It helps me think through those concepts, or remember them. Or sometimes it's just that it's easier to write a paragraph on my blog than attempting to squeeze it into the margin of my Bible, and it's easier to find those notes later when I have only a vague recollection of the topic (seeing as how the blog has a "search" feature while my Bible has tissue-papery pages that have to be flipped by hand).

So now, with my computer-time being SO limited, and the computer being relatively inaccessible, my brain is filling up with stuff I want to remember, but cannot think about and ponder whilst my brain is full and whilst my body is busy/distracted by the laundry and the dishes and the onion-chopping which all need to be done. For those who know what's in Dumbledore's office, my blog is my pensieve. And I get discombobulated when my pensieve is unavailable to me.