What is a “blog”, or “blogging” anyway?

Almost suddenly, I realized today that what I’ve been calling my “website”, is really a “blog-site”. Some of you may be thinking, so what?
Or, some of you may be thinking, “and she just figured that out?”
Or, some of you are thinking, “and…”??????

What’s a blog, anyway?

So, I “googled” it. What’s a blog? (That’s what we do these days, right? when we don’t know the answer to something, we google it?!)

And here’s what I found out…

As far back as 2005, blogging was being defined on the Problogger website as…
“A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links” and “A weblog is kind of a continual tour, with a human guide who you get to know. There are many guides to choose from, each develops an audience, and there’s also camaraderie and politics between the people who run weblogs, they point to each other, in all kinds of structures, graphs, loops, etc.” and…

“A person who posts these entries is called a “blogger”. A blog comprises text, hypertext, images, and links (to other web pages and to video, audio, and other files). Blogs use a conversational style of documentation. Often blogs focus on a particular “area of interest”, such as Washington, D.C.’s political goings-on. Some blogs discuss personal experiences.”

So, I began posting on my site in October 2008. And in the beginning, this site was really just a place for me to begin to put my words down in a format that was public, although I didn’t tell anyone about it for more than 6 months. This site was my very timid way to start to share my voice, my vision, my gifts with the world and mostly, a way for me to uncover my true voice.

And that was really, really scary for me.

So I didn’t tell anyone for a long time.

And eventually, people starting to find my writing, and started to tell me that they were inspired by it, and that gave me the courage to keep going and to eventually make my website “public”.

And now, you, and anyone else who cares to listen, can ride along as I tell my story.

But a funny thing happened along the way…
As I grew more comfortable writing, and I made it possible for my words to be read and heard by others, I also started to get more self-conscious about what I was writing. And recently, I realized, that the “free flow” of thought, the streaming consciousness if you will, that so many people found engaging, had started to be tainted by my notions of what you might want to hear, or imagined expectations, or what I “should” say. I spent more time “proofing” than writing, and my spirit was getting lost.

Interesting how that evolved for me…and yet not surprising, given my history. I’ve often done what I was “supposed to do”, rather than what I wanted to do…or what I was originally inspired to do…

So today, I am writing to tell you that I am moving into another phase for my blog. You may start to see posts here that are not “scripted” or “proofed”, but are rather, the original style of my free-form thought, the script of my life if you will, that is my sharing of my journey.

That was my original intent. And that’s what I want to continue to share. And that’s what I think you want to hear. Not “policed”, grammatically correct, and teacher-edited script, but rather the story of my life, my truth, my creative self-discovery, and recovery, as only I can tell it. And I know that you will hear in my story things that are exactly what you are meant to hear. And it is my hope that you will be inspired.

If I’m wrong, please tell me. And if you no longer want to listen, that’s OK, too, as long as you are honoring your true path in the process.

Every day I scan many, many sources of data, to gather information that guides me through my life. I know that not everyone does what I do. I know that many of you would like me to share my information gathering results with you. Please let me know what you’d like to hear about, OK? That way I can filter the information I gather just for you and feed data to this forum that is relevant, in addition to entertaining. I know you don’t always want to hear me rant about my trials and tribulations! There should be celebrations and successes, too!

Life is a journey, an amazing, beautiful journey, full of wondrous twists and turns, and lessons for us to share with each other.

Join me, won’t you?