Why Do You Blog?

One of my favorite bloggers, D.A.R. at Midwest Paradise bid the blogging world adieu last week. I'm sad that I won't get to read her posts or see what's going on in her life anymore, but after blogging for since 2008 she decided it was time to go and with a recent move, fairly new job, living near family and friends, house hunting, and expecting a baby, I think she'll have more than enough going on to keep her busy.

It got me thinking about this strange thing we call blogging and why we're all here. This morning when I pulled out the laptop, I read Chloë's current thoughts on blogging now that she's a new mom and training for the New York marathon, so obviously I'm not the only one who thinks about this.

I started this blog in 2009. I was a newlywed, living in my husband's hometown, didn't have any local friends, and had fallen off the running bandwagon. I found the blogworld because I enjoying reading my the blogs of my high school friends who were now far away. Soon I discovered the scores of running blogs out there and knew I'd found my niche. So, I started my blog, of course, with my obsessive challenge to run 365 days in a row.

Obviously, that's been a bust.

I did so well with the running streak I attempted before I got married that I thought this new one would be a breeze. Turns out, in this stage of my life, it hasn't been that easy to cling to obsessive challenges. So I don't know when I'll get my streak in.

Even though my blog's focus has shifted slightly, it's still a way for me to talk about my (running and otherwise) goals, training, and races, get advice from other runners, and have some accountability/motivation. There wasn't a running community here and I needed one badly. (Not to mention all the other sweet non-running bloggers who I've "met" along the way.)

Over two years later, I'm proud to say that there's is a growing group of runners in this rural town. I have been running on Saturdays with two of my friends from church (who completed their first half-marathons in May) and last weekend, we invited the community to join us. There were just five of us that showed up to run or walk on Saturday, but I've got four more who are excited to join us next week. We're going to have a legit running club here very soon and I'm so proud that I'm part of it.

So even though I may have the fitness community I dreamed of when I moved here, I still need blogging. It's hard to imagine all the ideas/products/books/races I wouldn't know about if I wasn't reading what all of y'all where up to. (As much as I love the people here, new ideas are not always celebrated here.) I don't think I'd have my Garmin Forerunner if it weren't for Jess or my Canon Rebel if it weren't for D.A.R. I might not have made my wedding frame collage in the dining room if I hadn't seen Erin's beautiful collages, or made my own headboard if I hadn't had the confidence inspired by John and Sherry. There are way, way too many times to count the time I've been moved by the beautiful writing, photography, joys, or struggles of other bloggers and I've have hundreds of pages saved with recipes, home tips, fitness advice, projects, relationship suggestions, teaching ideas, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

All of which explains why I read blogs, but I guess the reason I have my own is that I want to share too! I like to write and to share photos here and there, but my husband isn't that thrilled about me sharing pictures of us so I can't really have the open, friendly, share-your-life blog like so many of yours. (For the record, I think he's a little paranoid, but I play along.)

In any case, after reflection, I feel like I'm still in a place where blogging is still beneficial to me. Part of me thinks that down the road when I have kids and am still juggling everything else, that I'll probably leave the blogosphere behind (especially because I won't be able to share pictures of what will undoubtedly be my favorite subjects- no offense to my cat) but on the other hand, how will find out all ideas/products/books pertaining to kids if I leave then?!

Anyway, this whole post is basically to say that I like it here in blogworld, I'll be staying for a while, and thanks for making it a pleasant place!

Why do you blog?