battlemaiden Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Why do you blog? I really want to know. My thoughts on the matter are all over the map, so help me. I think I'm missing something big. Perhaps I'm being overly philosophical on the matter, but I rarely visit blogs, and I really think I need to have my eyes opened. I will withold any further ponderings on the matter until I read these responses. Thanks. Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lorna Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I am a visual person and I like to keep a record of our days visually. We travel a great deal and I wanted somewhere for my family to go and see how the children are. I get lots of ideas from other blogs on activities, particularly craft and science. I visit other bloggers who leave comments on our blog and often find inspiration from their posts. I use the blog to consolidate our learning that day. For example I put together photographs, explanations and links together and the children enjoy seeing themselves and, at the same time, review their experience in their minds the folowing day. We take part in weekly challenges on an engineering blog. Each week there is a challenge. We complete the challenge, send in our photos to their blog and write a post on our blog with more about our solution. After the children have completed the challenge we then look at the ideas other bloggers came up with. I have a written diary of our activities but I also like the idea of a place I can send someone if they want to know what we do all day. My husband enjoys seeing what we have been doing whilst he is at work I enjoy the discipline of trying to improve my writing. I aim to make the blog something I would like to come across on the web and something I would find helpful. Blogs you might enjoy: Shades of White Contemplative words and pictures from Jean in Wisconsin. Laura - China to Scotland A blog about homeschooling in China and then a recent move to Scotland. Recent posts include 'A Day in a Life'. Wonderful cultural insights and great book lists and SOTW curriculum lists. Home Biology Many great resources on learning high school biology at home. Rivendell Press Tapestry of Grace blog but rich in History resources and beautifully composed. Think! The engineering blog we are taking part in. Ridgeschool Thought-provoking images juxtaposed with great writing about and by a home educating family. Susan Wise Bauer Susan writes about every day home-educating; how she needs to burn the candles at both ends writing her incredible books; being a pastor's wife; being a professor and recently about her appearing on BBC radio in the UK. We get to hear it all on the blog first! Julie K in Taiwan I just found this one recently. She has a great art project on tesselations for Hallowe'en. You also get a peek into life as a Canadian living in Taiwan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennefer@SSA Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I think you may find that there are as many reasons to blog as there are bloggers! :001_smile: Here are my reasons I love to blog (not in any particular order): ~ It's a great place for me to sort my thoughts on what I am doing why I am doing it. It's certainly not the only way to process, but for me it forces an accountability - even if imagined! ~ Grandparents who live out of town love to see what we are doing - especially the set who struggles to understand why in the world I would be doing this. ;) ~ When I started homeschooling I stumbled, quite accidentally, across a few blogs that ended up being huge inspirations. For me sometimes homeschooling can be lonely and if I am able to encourage others the way those first blogs encouraged me then I consider it a blessing. I actually have five or six friends locally who homeschool but they are all very different in their approaches. I love these ladies and they are definitely sources of encouragement, yet when it comes to the actual nuts and bolts of our homeschool I love to read like-minded bloggers. And that's another reason I love to share our journey digitally. Hopefully I can do the same for others! ~ There are other things to share along the way in this journey that is also very much a lifestyle. I have shared about our experiences homeschooling an ADHD/ASD kiddo as well as our journey about transforming the way we eat (This one is still in process ;)) Some of my favorite blogs are a little about homeschooling and a lot about life. I will probably think of 10 more reasons but it's 4:45 am and that's all that's coming to mind right now. :tongue_smilie: I do not think blogging is for everyone but for me it's been very meaningful and a huge blessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich with Kids Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I like to make people laugh. I don't always hit the mark, but when I get a comment that has "LOL", it makes me feel like I've accomplished something. So, I guess I blog for attention. :hurray: "Look at me!" Sincerely, The Middle Child Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbaby Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I think you may find that there are as many reasons to blog as there are bloggers! :001_smile: Here are my reasons I love to blog (not in any particular order): ~ It's a great place for me to sort my thoughts on what I am doing why I am doing it. It's certainly not the only way to process, but for me it forces an accountability - even if imagined! ~ Grandparents who live out of town love to see what we are doing - especially the set who struggles to understand why in the world I would be doing this. ;) ~ When I started homeschooling I stumbled, quite accidentally, across a few blogs that ended up being huge inspirations. For me sometimes homeschooling can be lonely and if I am able to encourage others the way those first blogs encouraged me then I consider it a blessing. I actually have five or six friends locally who homeschool but they are all very different in their approaches. I love these ladies and they are definitely sources of encouragement, yet when it comes to the actual nuts and bolts of our homeschool I love to read like-minded bloggers. And that's another reason I love to share our journey digitally. Hopefully I can do the same for others! I blog for the same.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I blog mostly to help me remember things my boys have said and to help me work out thoughts now and then. It also helps to keep out of town relatives kind of connected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Buckin' Longhorn Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 You know, I don't really have ONE reason. I'm not an avid blogger who blogs daily or even weekly. I just blog as I see fit. Usually about different miscellaneous things. I don't have one single focus or mission. That's kind of how I am in life overall. I'm relaxed in my home schooling, my house keeping, and my blogging. I just enjoy having a tiny little corner of the internet dedicated to me and my family and our lives. I don't get much traffic, but that really isn't the point anyway. I'd love for my son and grandchildren to be able to look back on it one day when I'm long gone and see a "living" example of who I was and how I thought and how I felt. A short term blog can be faked (and has), but to blog long term is to painfully honest with yourself and about yourself. I find myself slipping in and out of denial from time to time, but posting on my blog always makes me focused, accurate and honest. It's extremely cheap therapy. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3lilreds in NC Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I don't blog regularly, but I started blogging as a way to keep family updated on what we're doing. We live far away from everyone (although not as far away as you do, LOL) and they like to know what's going on. Occasionally I have "something to say," but not often. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I've got two, a closed one so that family/friends can keep up with us, and my open blog, the horse blog, which sometimes has stuff other than horses. I started the horse blog to document some training I was doing and so my family didn't have to look at the horses all the time. It has a big following of what I imagine must be little horse crazy girls. Sometimes I think I should just combine them, but I do like my (imagined??) safety in being able to post private goings on, and pics of the kids and their friends. My mom likes that her grandkids (sister blogs too) aren't out there for everyone to see. And then again, the horses bore most folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virginia Dawn Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I enthusiastically started a nature blog to catalog the flora and fauna found within my neighborhood. It is currently on hold because I lost my momentum when school started back up and life got busy. When I'm up to it, blogging is a fun learning experience. However, I have no desire to tell the world my thoughts or what I am doing from day to day. I'm one of the most boring people I know. I'm also not really interested in spending time finding out what other people I don't know are doing on a regular basis. My desire to remain private is much stronger than my desire to connect with people. Which is probably why very few people try to connect with me. I am trying to figure out a way to get passed that barrier without changing who I am. Can you say " extreme introvert" five times fast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I used to get a lot of questions about our living in China, and I didn't feel that I did a good job of answering them. My China posts were like little essays on aspects of China that I thought might be interesting, or that I had been musing on. I'm still unsure about blogging in Scotland. I'm both an outsider and an insider here (I'm British, but not Scottish) and I haven't discovered a voice for our new circumstances. In the mean time, I talk about home education, and post pretty pictures. I'm quite a private person, so you won't find anything confessional on the blog. I have no objection to other people writing that kind of thing, but it doesn't fit my personality. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 My blog focuses on creativity. I write it to keep *me* focused on the creative aspects of my life. It is a way to use my photography and writing skills. Part of my goal in blogging was to have more accountability in my writing. I love looking back on it. The posts become an interesting (to me) diary of my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tricia Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I have a married son and a married daughter. They both blog and this way I can keep up with what is going on with them. Our oldest daughter has 2 kids and our son is expecting his first. I love to get on their blogs and see what is going on with them. Sometimes the phone just isn't enough. Plus, with so many children our older children can see what is going on with their little brothers and sisters here at home. We all live in different states and blogging is a way to kind of stay close. Juli our oldest is 26, and she rarely knows her younger sisters who are 10 year old twins, 8,6, and a 2 year old. So she can get on my blog and see pictures of them and see what they are doing. It means a lot to her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Why do you blog? I really want to know. My thoughts on the matter are all over the map, so help me. I think I'm missing something big. Perhaps I'm being overly philosophical on the matter, but I rarely visit blogs, and I really think I need to have my eyes opened. I will withold any further ponderings on the matter until I read these responses. Thanks. Jo Ah, the blog world! I do not visit other blogs often. My blog is a place I go to share the beauty of my world. It is where I write about the simple things of life, ponderings that help me sort through what is important in life, and share what I know with people who care to stop by and visit my corner of Wisconsin. People who visit tell me they come to relax, unwind, find peace...and enjoy my kitties :). My blog is written for me as much as for others--and I hope someday the books I make out of my blogs will be read by my children as a way to walk down memory lane. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I blog because we live far from all family and friends and it is a great way for us to stay connected. I try to post things about our everyday life and LOTS of pictures. My parents like to print out the pics so that they can "see" the boys. Now, I have developed a homeschooling community online and the blog is a great way to share information and thoughts and struggles. I like blogging too because it helps me organize my thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 (edited) I just started up blogging again. 1. ALL of our family is out-of-state and they want to know what is going on. 2. As my DH says, "You need a place to get all your words out." Why I stopped blogging about 5 months ago. 1. Taking up too much of my time. 2. I like blogging better than I like people (not a good thing). Edited October 29, 2008 by Daisy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 To keep in touch with out of state fam, including dd at college - to share pics of our fam with them. To share my opinions- of which I have many-lol! The discipline of writing. Not sure I have much of an audience but it helps to write to who I think might be reading rather than just putting together a word doc. It's not as messy as scrapbooking- lol! To share opinons that I know are not popular with family who will be reading, such as political issues, homeschooling, our parenting choices -kwim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn E Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Like many others have already said, we have family and friends out of town, and it is our way of keeping in touch. Also, I like to have a place to share my rare "epiphanies" about life, God, homeschooling, etc. I've been inspired and encouraged by the blogs of other moms(and dads) and hope that I sometimes can offer encouragement and inspiration as well. I try to keep a running log of what we accomplish in school every week or two. Everyone views blogging so differently. Some people are insistent about posting daily while others only post when they have news or an update. I try to post a couple of times a week, at least, but I definitely am not consistent. I would encourage you to give it a try and see how it "fits" into your life. You may find you really enjoy the outlet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runamuk Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 We're a military family and our blog is a way to keep in touch with everyone. It's a way to show them the little bits and pieces of our lives we can't share with them because we're so far away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I started my photo blog (http://www.colleen365.blogspot.com) at the beginning of 2007. It was a way to stay connected with some distant friends and join an online photography project in which they were taking part. The concept was to post a photo each day of the year (thus, the "365") as a means of journaling one's life. It was a great way to stay in touch with these friends, and to push myself to actually buy a digital camera & do something with it. Once we moved in to 2008, most of us decreased dramatically how much we post. I still do share pics on mine, though I've not kept up lately and still want to post my photos from Europe. I write very little because, to be honest, I'm not interested in what most people write on blogs. It feels like navel gazing to me. When I catch up on blogs, I like to glance through some photos ~ a picture's worth a thousand words ~ and that's that. So, long story short, mine's essentially an occasional photo blog.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obi-Mom Kenobi Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 Not many people in my life know about my blog and I like it that way. Writing gives me the chance to really think out the fluff that rolls around in my head without having to worry about arguments from extended family members that don't agree with homeschooling or our lack of religious beliefs. It focuses me when I'm feeling torn in a dozen directions. It is also fun to go back and see how things were going a week, month, year... ago. My old blog got co-opted by snide "anonymous" family members who didn't know about stat counters and IP addresses and who posted some snarky, rude comments so I shut it down and started a new blog a couple of months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamrachelle Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I've actually only started blogging within the past 6 months. My huz is in the AF and we moved overseas this past summer. It's been a fantastic outlet for me emotionally and a wonderful way for me to catalog my thoughts and pictures of the midgets for family back in the states to view. I've never been faithful in journaling and this is probably the closest thing I'll ever get to it. It's actually been a lot of fun to go back and read past posts and see what we we were doing as a family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill- OK Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 ...addicted to writing. :-) I'm a writer (copywriting and freelance journalism, and an aspiring novelist, like everyone else, lol), and having a blog is a good way for me to keep 'loose', writing-wise, and sometimes even make some new contacts. (It helped get me at least one paid gig, and I've enjoyed folks sending me books in the mail to review). It's also a good way to keep in contact with some 'cyber-friends', and even make new ones. I fail miserably as a blog reader...but I love getting email from folks who frequent my blog, and having a laugh about the things we have in common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennefer@SSA Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 TejasMamacita may have nailed it on the head for me: It's extremely cheap therapy. :001_smile: :lol::lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAMom Posted October 29, 2008 Share Posted October 29, 2008 I'm going to answer before I read any other posts.:D For me, blogging, satisfies a lot. I can express my creativity. I can post really cool ideas (that is, if I had any :lol:) to share with my homeschooling friends. I can post pictures of my kids for my family and friends to enjoy. I can practice my writing skills. I have a place to journal my thoughts. I can suggest other great blogs or websites that I think will encourage my friends. I can keep track of some activities to, hopefully, scrapbook later. I'm sure there's more but that's off the top of my head. It's fun and, sometimes, therapeutic.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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