Some Observations on Blogging at Year's End

I started blogging this past July. Although I was a little hesitant to begin, I’ve found that I really enjoy it. I thought that, at year’s end, I’d share a few of my observations about blogging:

1. No skill improves without practice, and writing is no different. Blogging is a good way to regularly exercise my “writing muscles.”

2. Blogging encourages me to be more observant.

3. Knowing that I have a daily post to write makes me more thoughtful—about life, about what I read, about what I think, about what others say—about everything, really. And that’s always a good thing.

4. It’s rewarding to see my words in print, even if it is online.

5. I always wondered how columnists regularly came up with things to write about. Now I know.

6. Writing and reading blogs lets me regularly participate in conversations with people—intelligent people, witty people, thoughtful people, geographically-distant people, something that otherwise would be nearly impossible.

7. Knowing that others are reading my blog is motivating. I never could keep a personal journal going, but blogging has a built-in incentive.

8. My blog is an archive of my daily thoughts, ideas, and observations, something that I find personally valuable.

9. It’s fun.

10. It’s addictive.

Here’s to a great year of blogging in 2009!