why we write
This weekend, landisdad and I finally finished painting one of the rooms of the basement, which meant that we could start moving boxes back downstairs. (Can I get an 'amen!') In the moving process, I stumbled upon a box of my old journals from high school and college. Painful re-reading, yes, but it also got me thinking about my own history as a diarist, and how it's different, now that I blog.
Then I read these two posts from two of my favorite bloggers, and it made me think about it some more.
As a teenager and a young woman, I wrote in my journal at least weekly. When I was having a sturm-und-drang-filled life, I wrote about everything–boyfriends, drugs, girlfriends, my parents, money troubles, sex, teachers I hated or loved, alcohol, you name it, it's in there. I've kept a journal more-or-less continuously since I was 13 or 14 years old.
But as I got older, there were more and more years where I might have 50 journal entries for the whole year. And since I've become a parent, it's probably half that. There's still plenty of sturm-und-drang, but now it's of the 'this is your brain on two-year-old' type, rather than the 'this is your brain on drugs' type. Blogging has given me the discipline to keep writing almost every day, and I'm thankful for that.
I've always thought that I kept a diary not just for myself, but for my descendents. Who knows whether my kids (or grandkids?) will want to read it or not–that'll be up to them. But especially since I've become a parent, I've got all kinds of questions for my grandmother, and I've wished I could go back in time and ask. I wish I could have a journal or some other private writings of hers, and I hope that someone in the future will be interested in what I have to say.
I've often thought that the point of blogging is to have an online community, and I'm grateful for the community that I've found through this blog, and through other online venues. But what I think I'm most grateful for is the fact that I've found a reason to write again, on a regular basis.
April 9, 2006. meta.
Bumblebee Sweet Potato 
Shirley replied:
Love this post…and agree. Thank you for sharing.
Blessings,
Shirley
April 9, 2006 at 7:35 pm. Permalink.
Beverlee replied:
To the last line of your post I say, “I hear you sister!”
April 9, 2006 at 8:45 pm. Permalink.
Suzanne replied:
Yes! I hope it’s not hubristic of me to think that my self-involved blogging might be of interest to my kids and grandkids, and maybe even generations beyond that. Like you, I wish that I knew my grandparents, even my own parents, better.
I think that your own descendents will find your writing just as insightful and fascinating as your current readers do!
April 9, 2006 at 8:56 pm. Permalink.
christie replied:
Exactly
🙂
April 10, 2006 at 8:28 am. Permalink.
jackie replied:
This is almost exactly my own trajectory, especially since once i got out of school, i didn’t have that same reason to write regularly. Blogging has kept my writing muscles limber, for sure.
April 10, 2006 at 8:52 am. Permalink.
Mere replied:
Yeah, the more I write, the more I WANT to write. I’ve never been much of a journaler – I had journals here and there in my lifetime. Always to be … GASP! … thrown away after finding it in that “safe place” years later and thinking that it was so “immature” and “what if someone else had found them” (now I wish I’d kept them). I blog so that my kids will know (should they decide to read it) from where my grey hair comes. LOL!
April 10, 2006 at 10:47 am. Permalink.
alala replied:
Oh, groan. I have not matured to the point where I can read my old journals without cringing. I used my journals mostly to get my frustrations out, but I think I rather reinforced them by giving them so much attention. I’ve lightened up considerably, and I write less because of it. Oh, and also because I have kids.
The blog is partly a document for me, not necessarily for future generations but for my future self, since I tend to forget things. It’s also, because I live so far away from my origins, a way for the Folks Back Home to keep track of my doings. Mostly, though, it keeps me writing, which is a good thing, but knowing that people read it keeps me from indulging in the angst-ridden self-absorption that so marred my um, early work.
April 10, 2006 at 11:03 am. Permalink.
Shirley replied:
Thank you for visiting my site and for commenting.
Celebrate with me: I just had my 1000th hit!
Shirley
April 10, 2006 at 11:10 am. Permalink.
~d replied:
I ( thankfully! ) lost my old journal, ‘poetry’ short stories, etc in a flood in 1995. I ( unfortunately ) lost some good books and photographs as well. But not having the journals around does not bother me a bit! I blog b/c I prefer now-adays to be at the comp in the family room than off somewhere writing. I print these entries, and then I don’t know-keep them for now…I will let you know in a few years what I have actually done with them.
April 10, 2006 at 3:44 pm. Permalink.
Trasherati replied:
I, for one, am very glad you blog. Not because it lets you write, but because I am selfish and it allows me to read your writing : )
(Haven’t commented in a while, but thank you for letting me read n’ lurk….)
April 10, 2006 at 8:04 pm. Permalink.
Doppelganger replied:
I’m totally hooked on the lives of the dozen or so bloggers I read daily. What would I do without you guys? (Does that make me sound like a scary stalker lady? Er, I swear I’m not.)
April 10, 2006 at 11:20 pm. Permalink.
Jennifer replied:
My dad wrote a letter to his mother every week from when he went to boarding school (aged 12) until she died (he was nearly 60). I’ve read many of them, and it’s one of the things that inspired me to start blogging – first as a record of my kids, and then to record my own thoughts.
As a daughter, I just wanted to read the stuff about myself, at first, but I find myself rereading the letters lately to find out what he thought about the world.
Just thought I’d give you hope that your descendents may read your words!
April 16, 2006 at 8:43 am. Permalink.