Why do I do this? I didn't start blogging for no reason. I started blogging because last spring my creative writing teacher encouraged us to write something everyday. Until then I had only ever kept a stack of old unlined writing tablets with all my scribbles, poems and thoughts in them. I thought that I wouldn't know if what I wrote was any good if no one else read it.
So I decided back in the spring that I would start a blog so that my parents and family back east could help critique, encourage and possibly offer constrictive criticism when needed. I sent a long email to alot of people letting them know. The funny thing is, aside from my sister and mother...i don't think most of my family reads this. Instead what happened is that a bunch of strangers started reading it and giving me their input. Then those strangers turned into friends in who's encouragement and advice I've come to greatly appreciate in my life. I guess their like my "Friendly Strangers". People I've never met...yet know. People that if I walked past them on the street, I might not notice, or at best take a second glance because they seem familiar- yet not because I only know their faces over an electric screen and some who don't even post real pictures of themselves!(HA HA=)And then there are those that do.
So why do I do this? Because I love to write. I love to encourage. Adults, children...make you laugh, or make the dusk collect in your eyes. I'm not sure what's going to happen to this writing. I tend to always feel stuck somehow with the writing. If you read this blog, then you know that it's all over the place. It makes me frustrated, but I can't stop writing, sharing...tomorrow's not promised I only have today to give what of I have. So this is what I have...these thoughts.
And then it did become daily putterings too. Like the fact that when I was running tonight the sky was on fire over Lake Washington and there is something so spectacular about the twilight. Like God going "SEE ME!!" And all I can do is smile and say "Yes, Father, I do."
She's Having a Baby
10 years ago
3 comments:
You have so many gifts, Colleen. Among them is the gift of writing which in turn gives you the gift of communication which in turn brings readers to your blog.
And yes, there is so much of God and Creation around us, but we don;t always stop to notice, acknowledge or give thanks.
That is why we read you, because you do these things and you do them so well.
I like when people explain things. Any things. Even posts that clearly call me out =D
I'm sorry it took me so long to get over here! Sheesh. Every time I started to make my rounds, I would get busy or distracted... and anyway.
You mentioned one of my favorite things about blogging: the people you would otherwise never get the chance to "meet." Most remain "friendly strangers" but I will tell you, I met two people -- husband & wife actually -- who are now two of my best *real life* friends in the world! All from a blog. =)
Don't let your scattered directions be defined as a limit. They are real. That's how we think. Sometimes we shoot off in an unexpected direction, and the best thing we can do is allow ourselves to follow it. Some of the best ideas, best writings, are "accidental" or are no more than fragmented raw thought. It's like I commented on another blog recently, that posted a gorgeous photo of an Autumn path through the woods and asked if we knew where the path would lead: "It's not the destination, but the journey. And on a path that beautiful, how can you not enjoy the journey?"
The way you blog, no matter how random & undirected it may seem to you, is a gift of sharing who you are on *your* side of the electric screen that your "Friendly Strangers" appreciate. *That's* why we keep coming back.
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