Why Blog?

Why blog?  I keep asking myself this.  It never crossed my mind to have my own blog until I realized a few of the women from Mums & Toddlers have them. (M&T's is an international toddler play-group my daughter & I belong to.)  Each blog was so different... some of them had specific purposes, some of them were just to get feelings out, some were to help them deal with leaving the country they knew as home, etc., etc.  So why do I blog?  Many reasons.  My blog description explains the main reason I blog: this blog is about random things in my life, I like to talk and I like to share my opinion (whether asked for or not) and this seems like the best place for those quirky random fleeting thoughts!  But I also blog so that people can get to know me better.  For my family... the ones in The States who I don't get to talk to more than the occasional phone call, and the ones here & there that I do talk to often but don't know this side of me.  For my friends... the ones in The States who don't really know much about me now, the ones  here that maybe the language barrier keeps us from truly knowing each other, and the ones that know me well but are looking for a laugh.  For my acquaintances... the ones I have met during the past 9yrs of living abroad, and the ones I have met through M&T's.  It's a convenient way to tell everyone a story at once, it's a nice way for people to learn more about me, and it's a great way to help people out with things they may have been unaware of. 

But at times having a blog gets frustrating, there's a pressure to write about interesting things to keep the people coming back.  I also have to be careful to keep it semi-lighthearted, and not stand on a soapbox because most people I come in contact with have different political and religious views than I do.  There's also this constant curiosity as to if people are even reading the blog and if I am wasting my time.  Sure I can check the stats, there are the occasional comments, I have a few followers, and my parents are always sure to mention if they've read the last blog but I still wonder.  I obviously don't blog for myself, I could just as well keep a journal.  I blog because I want a place for people to go to get a good chuckle, to get informed, and to fill a spare moment in a day and age where everyone is attached to their smart phones or computers.  While writing this it has also dawned on me I guess I also blog for strangers, it's a public blog, anyone can stumble upon it.  In my quest to learn more about blogging I have ended up on a lot of blogs, ones about stamping, ones about challenges, ones about the city I used to live and the one I live in now.  The are so many bloggers in the world!  I guess I also blog to work on a different aspect of my creative writing.  Blogging is much different than the fiction stories I usually work on.  I'm imaginative, I'm a daydreamer, I walk to the beat of my own drum, whoever thought I'd end up writing non-fiction.  It's just a different way to express myself and explore life; I'm not a celebrity, I'm not a CEO, I'm a stay-at-home Mom, and my life is just as interesting.