The Random Joy Blogging Brings
I'm committed to blogging. It's something I do every day. i don't wait for a good mood. I don't wait for inspiration. I just sit down and make it happen. That might not sound joyful, but it truly is. Each night i go to bed with the satisfaction of completing an important daily goal, but there's more joy in blogging than just checking something off a to do list. Here are a few other elements of the experience that make me happy.
- I love a trip down memory lane even if the memory isn't particularly happy. Of course, the happy stuff, stories about my kids when they were little or various victories over struggles, is great but even recalling the tough times comes with the realization that none of that stuff killed me and that I am 100% a survivor living a life well examined.
- Getting feedback from random Internet strangers is a treat in and of itself. Since I have been participating in the Blaugust blogging challenge, a blogger I met on Discord who goes by AgingGamer has been leaving me the most thoughtful notes and it just makes my day. We are both men of a certain age, IT types but with plenty of differences too, I look forward to reading what he has to say whenever he has the time to leave me a message.
- Building a library of essays/reviews/links/photographs online provides a quick way to share information with people who are interested in what I've written. This is generally true more on the technical side than the personal. I just love it when someone wants to know how to do something in Obsidian and I have a link to a set of instructions I've already written. It was fun recently when a friend posted a video of a black bear from his back yard, and I was able to respond with a picture of a mama bear and cubs I met while hiking.
- Life kind of flows differently when events get evaluated through the day on whether they'd make a good blog post or an anecdote to share on Mastodon. I loved posting the saga of our student worker earlier this summer, even if he did turn out to be kind of Casper Milquetoast by the end. I kept an eye on him each day, just waiting for the next moment of absurdity. My youngest daughter wrote me this week and told me she likes reading my blog...for the most part. I didn't have the nerve to ask what she didn't like but I know she's counting her blessings at being grown and gone because she is one of the funniest people I know and if she were still at home, I'd be writing about her more than she would like,
- Aside from regular comments on various posts, I've also gotten a few heartfelt letters from folks who have shared some of the same struggles, especially around life after retirement. Folks think finally getting away from the day-to-day grind is going to be a paradise and for some, I'm sure it is. But for others, it's not an easy transition. Being a set of ears for someone to bounce their troubles off of is a different kind of reward.
- Writing can be a real craft sometimes. When I blogged on the Appalachian Trail, I would start thinking about that day's topic in the morning. As I covered mile after mile through the green tunnel of the great eastern forest, I would toss ideas over in my head and think of new ways to describe what was sometimes monotonous living. By the time the day was done, and I was lying exhausted in my sleeping bag at the end of the day, I would thumb type a carefully worded and well thought out description of the adventure I was privileged to be on with my wife. Some days now, a day's blog post can be like that, the result of lots of thought and carefully put together words. It's beautiful when it happens.
Enjoyed it? Please upvote 👇