I Am Blogger, Hear Me Grieve

Following are my three major complaints on blogging:

1. Time Sucking Vicious Cycle. Writing my novels took me three months, working on average 3-4 hours a day. Because of a writing correspondence course, miscellaneous short stories and articles, and researching markets, add another hour per day. No big deal since I have no life aside from work. It sure beats sitting in front of the television all night long. Then I start a blog. Again, no big deal. I doubt if I spent more than a half an hour per entry, and I didn’t write an entry every day. Then came the comments. Lots and lots of comments, all from fellow bloggers. To be fair, I visited their blogs. I soon became a small fish, treble hook dug deep into my throat and struggling against 40lb test line. Found within these blogs is some of the highest quality writing I’ve seen. While not all are perfect examples of grammatical correctness, every one never fails to make me laugh, cry, or think, sometimes all at once. One visit isn’t enough. I need to return every time they update their blogs. It sucks up, on average, another two hours a day. I feel as though the world has passed me by if I don’t keep up. Then, when someone new comes along, this cycle begins again, and I add yet another favorite, taking up even more of my time. With the readers I’ve attracted and continue to attract, I’m in the habit of expending another half an hour a day writing in my blog.

2. Stealing My Ignorant Bliss. I doubt me being a writer is an accident. I’ve always been introverted, a silent watcher. Both are necessary ingredients to writing. The consequence, however, is the constant seeking of solitude and the certainty I am strange, weird even. I’m okay with that. That also means I’m unique, dare I say even special. Along with introversion comes introspection. I’m always seeking to better myself, to increase my knowledge. I many times I think I succeed. Through blogging, however, I’m shown my ignorance, my naivety, my youth, my . . . normalcy. Others go through the same experiences, learn the same things, and more often than not, learn even more. Dang it, but I know now someone will always be smarter, more compassionate, older in spirit if not in years, or a better writer than me. Whether I learn that through people’s comments or by reading their blogs, all this becomes achingly obvious.

3. And The Biggest Grievance of All. I don’t want to change any of the above. My spirit has grown more patient, more kind. I learn something new every day about any subject imaginable. Other bloggers have taught me how to live better. I’ve revealed my innermost thoughts and the darkest moments in my life. In return, I've received only compassion and encouragement. I no longer need to hide. Because people keep coming back to read what I have to say, I continue to express myself better, and not just with my writing, but in speaking to others. Best of all, I have made friends from around the world.

So there they are, my grievances with blogging. Not very negative, I know, and that’s on purpose. I have none aside from the occasional misunderstood entry or comment. But that is easily fixed, because few bloggers are malicious or seek controversy for the sake of controversy.

This is a community I love, am proud to be a part of, and I intend to never leave.

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