Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Just thinking out loud

Why do we blog? To share our innermost thoughts? To try and find others of like mind with whom to share that in which we have found joy? To try and rid ourselves of demons and potential nightmares by purging ourselves of ugliness or bad moments - to 'get it out in the open', as it were? To 'dump' on someone else? To commiserate with each other? To wallow in or chuckle over another's misfortune? To be discovered as the next best-selling author? To achieve fame and fortune? To simply while away the time?

Why do YOU blog?

I began blogging in January of 2008. I was 70 years old and newly retired. I was having a whole lot of fun with a 'new toy' - my computer - and knew I had a lot to say, but didn't quite know how to go about it. My daughter and son-in-law helped me out a whole bunch.

Initially, I'm pretty sure I was under the terribly-mistaken illusion that the world would soon beat a path to my heretofore unpublished writer's door, pay me a gazillion million $$$$$ to publish ----- and then I would while away the rest of my days in (wherever I pleased) doing (whatever I pleased) to my heart's content.

Ha! Double ha!!

Since then, of course, reality has set in, and I have found myself in the midst of just a fantastic group of bloggers from around the world, some of whom I value as true friends. Among those most dear are Tammy, Steven, Craig, Chuck, Polimom and Michael.

One of the things I've discovered that I delight in the most about reading other bloggers' posts is leaving a comment. Taking the time to leave a comment means that you have thought enough about your friend's post to add a statement or two - perhaps even to ask a question. Even more fun, however, is the wonderful surprise of receiving a thoughtful response - perhaps a question provoking even more dialogue between the two of you - back!

How uplifting and heartwarming it is to have someone be so thoughtful as to regard your comment as being worthy of a response ... it's a really good feeling!

In these days of extraordinarily large and sometimes unimaginable numbers, where the great majority of us are almost totally lost in ambiguous anonymity, I find great solace in the (perhaps) somewhat smaller - but certainly more closely-knit - world of blogging.

Thank you all for following my posts these past many months. I hope that you will continue to do so. Even though you are not here where I can see you right this very second, please know that you are in my thoughts, in my heart and in my prayers.

12 comments:

steven said...

hi goldenrod, i started bloggin in my fiftieth year. i decided to try it out because i wanted a record of my interests and my thinking for both myself and eventually my friends and children. then i decided to look inside myself a bit and to talk from there, so i started another blog and i knew all along that the two would eventually meld once i got the confidence to share both my inner and outer worlds. they are melding together and "flow" will likely close this year. what i also found though was that the other people writing changed my sense of what was "alright" and i began very slowly to share more of me. not just my sense of outer and inner but who i am. now i'm very private and so that has been the greatest learning. so it's a slow gradual process, but it has been honest writers like yourself who have given me the unconscious support to move on and write from who i am.
it has been a real awakening and a gift to read and see so many amazing people's experiencing of their lives.

thanks for asking this powerful question goldenrod!!! steven

The Bug said...

I was going to say that I would answer yes to most of your questions (didn't expect fame or money though). But what REALLY got me started was that I was reading all these blogs & commenting, but I felt like a lurker - I didn't have anything to offer these blog authors except my comments. And I felt left out. So I started a blog so people would have somewhere to go when they clicked my name - & I've really enjoyed it. I pretty much write what's on my brain that day - not very brilliant & sometimes wince-inducing - but I don't really care. It's too much fun to quit now!

Goldenrod said...

Steven, you are one of my 'most dear'. You have shared and given so much of your inner self and have been an inspiration to many many others, I'm almost positive!

I'm just a little nervous about how you're going to try and keep up with all of your wonderfully-responsive comments to your growing number of fans, now that your new school year is about to begin. (?)

Goldenrod said...

Hi, newcomer 'Bug'!

I'm enjoying your posts, but would have liked them even more if you had answered even ONE of my questions - which were posed in a comment to your "Cluckles the Chicken" post ... ... the first one of which was, "What's a 'barred rock'?" ... ... The second one? "What happens, tho, if she lays eggs in your yard and then decides to sit on and coddle them until they hatch little ones? Do you get to split the proceeds of a possible sale with your neighbors, or will they instead sue you for alienation of affection?"

What do you do with comments and/or questions like these, Bug? If you're at all like me - or at least how I USED to be, you don't really pay much attention to them. I'm trying to improve in this area, but I'm not at all sure if I'm doing better or not.

Do you have answers to either of those questions?? What, exactly, is a "barred rock", anyway??? Is that a type of chicken, like a Rhode Island Red, for example? I plead almost total ignorance here. :(

Don't be a lurker, Bug! Come on back at me and we'll have ourselves some good old-fashioned dialogue!!

Polimom said...

Hi Goldenrod -- For me, I think I started blogging for 2 reasons: 1) My family was getting tired of hearing my non-stop gabble about politics and events of the day, and 2) some areas of politics have grown very polarized, and I wanted to contribute a more moderate voice to the mix.

I guess my reasons sort of fit some of you ideas for why people start blogging. Certainly, though, I was not surprised when I didn't become a famous writer overnight -- LOL!

Goldenrod said...

Hey there, Polimom, good to hear from you!

You've always had your feet more aligned to the ground than mine were, I'll bet, altho I must say that I never actually broke a major bone in my foot while hiking! :)

(I've done a whole bunch of other things, but not THAT particular one! Just lucky, I'm pretty sure.)

The Bug said...

Sorry for not answering your comment questions - I am VERY hit or miss! I'm going to try to do better at it. I'm getting more comments than I used to so I need to get with the program! For reasons unknown to me I feel very self conscious commenting on my own blog post. Guess I should get over that!

Anyway - a barred rock is a type of chicken. But I don't really know more than that. I think my hubby googled "striped chicken" or some such & looked at images until he found the one that looked right.

We haven't seen any eggs. I think that we would probably give them to the kids - they would be SO thrilled! I believe (I may be wrong?) that there needs to be a rooster involved before there are any chicks so hopefully we don't have to worry about that!

Kay said...

I started a blog because I was hopeless at keeping a written diary and thought I might keep this up!! I never expected anyone to read mine and for about 8 months nobody did!! then gradually I have a small group of followers ..i find it amazing that anyone would be remotely interested in my life..i am quite careful not to give too much of myself away...that may change..i find if you give a bit you get a lot....but its fun to do and i spend rather too much time in the evenings reading everyone elses!!! They make you laugh and cry and point you to things that you may never have found yourself....i love it!! Thanks for asking the question. xx

Craig Peihopa said...

I love you Goldenrod!! Visiting you on the blog and reading of your thoughts, feelings and memories has brought a few tears and bucket loads of laughs, this place is a warm and treasured place to be. You are a very warm and special person. Indeed even Golden!

Goldenrod said...

Bug, I laughed out loud when I read, "I believe there needs to be a rooster involved ...". In fact, I guffawed! Thanks for your comeback.

Kay, I was delighted to hear from you and immediately went to both of your blogsites. One I had a whole lot of trouble reading (it's probably just my eyes, but I doubt I'll be able to follow it much) - "Is This the Right Path?" - thank goodness your 'Transformative Moment' post had lettering just a little larger so that it didn't "melt into" - my phraseology - the background.

However, I must admit that I squinted like crazy to read every single word where you talked about re-upholstering your chair yourself. Good on YOU, Kay! Heavens to Betsy!!

Your other blog, "Nancy's Garden", is very easy for me to read and is absolutely deLIGHTful! Such glorious pix you show!! Your background as a florist (?) is quite evident. I'll be following this one and enjoying every one of your posts, I'm pretty sure (altho I might not leave many comments).

Thank you, Kay, for stopping by, and I hope you'll come again.

Right back atcha, Craig. Takes two to do THIS tango!

Tammy said...

I started my blog so a friend in another state and also my inlaws could see what we were up to. None of them ever read it, lol. But I plugged along with blogging simply because it was the only type of journal or diary I had ever kept. I didn't have any comments for months and months, so my blog I guess was just for me. Then somewhere along the way happened a few people who for whatever crazy reason found what I wrote interesting. That completely blew my mind. This last year or so my blog somehow morphed into one mainly about the girls and what we do for homeschooling, so I've been trying to keep up on my personal one, too. THAT one is mainly for me to write down memories, things that mattered for one reason or another, and even to work through some past issues. Blogs are funny...I think we all have different reasons for writing them and quite often we have MANY reasons that overlap each others.

I think you were one of my first readers and I've been reading yours from the beginning. Isn't it amazing the friendships that can be formed through blogging???

Goldenrod said...

Polimom didn't mention that she spent multitudinous hours in the early days of her blog assisting Katrina victims, Tammy. Her blog has evolved, too, along with Steven's and yours.

The close friendships that can be formed through blogging are, while not necessarily 'amazing', are certainly serendipitous.