Why blog?
Today's Blog Triage class assignment was a 2-parter... the first part "who are you writing for?" you can read here. The second part is to explain why I blog. Much like Alyson Stanfield said in the kickoff to the class, I started blogging because I felt like I should. Cynthia Morris said she blogs because she likes to write, which is also true for me.
Writing is one of those funny things that I enjoy so much in all of its forms... journaling, writing letters, writing books and articles... even email, facebook, and twitter... I just enjoy words a lot. Yet every time I sit down to write, I remember my first writing teacher at Smith College (Pat Scarda for any Smithies out there) who thought I was just a terrible writer, and I was! The class was Reading and Writing Short Stories. My story was always the "worst story for this assignment" example, and I'm not exaggerating. The other aspect of the class was that we had to keep a journal. We could write about anything in the journal and be as personal as we wanted since she would be the only person who read them. After reading my journal several times, Pat pulled me aside (again... I swear I had to meet with her at least once a week) and told me she realized that I'm not a terrible writer afterall. We were spending so much time and working so hard together to force my writing style into something it's not... a short story fiction writer. I'm much better writing conversationally from real life, or tackling articles or essays. Not that I gave up on her class or writing in general... I worked and pushed and learned. And, yes, all of this runs through my head in 1-2 seconds everytime I sit down to write.
Pat taught me to continue to sit down and write. To push myself and learn; learn from the failures and the successes... but above all, continue to make writing a habit. Much the way reading is a habit I developed early in life and truly cherish; writing has become a low simmering soup that sits on the stove as I periodically taste and enjoy as the flavors meld and deepen over time.
Blogging is a way for me to continue this exercise. I haven't made it a full-on habit yet, but hopefully that will change with this class. The writing process is something I do for myself, yet the end written post is for you. This isn't a private journal that I cringe at the thought of anyone reading... rather I love knowing when someone reads my blog and a particular post speaks to them. Blogging is another way for me to network, outside of the sales space of my booth at shows. I like connecting with fellow artists and customers equally... there are always so many interesting connections to uncover.
From blogging I do hope to learn to share more, especially in the photography arena. Words I'm comfortable with... taking photos? just not me... hopefully that will change. My plan is to push myself to beef up my visuals, which will actually add to the variety of blog posts. I want to create some regular blog features like a style guide of mixing and matching clothes with my jewelry and other accessories, which will be fun for me and hopefully for you, too. I'd also like to share my art collection as a way of featuring other artists and discussing life on the road and creating a more artful living space... crucial for artists and non-artists alike.
Those are some of my goals and what I love about blogging and hope to get out of this class. Let me know if there's anything else you would like to see in the mix!