In my mind, I didn’t start a blog to have followers, get comments, track all of the stats or any of that. My purpose was simple: go public so that you feed yourself consistently with your writing because writing….well, it’s just something I have to do. Totally self-absorbed.
Sure, on My About page, I state that I want my readers to gain reflection, and inspire me to keep going, but what I meant by that really is that through the pressure of publishing live, I’ll write and reflect more often. It was more of a ‘Laura, you will do this now.’ Besides, who am I to say that anyone will gain anything from my writing? My writing isn’t about being a novelist or a poet….ha, far from it. I have dreams of writing a book for educators one day, but when I consider that on the primal level, it makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about the task at hand. Writing is so hard! Writing well is even harder! I write to journal, to debrief with myself, to think about the meaning of my experiences….to exist beyond surviving.
My writing is more about the act than the product itself, but in the rare times where I’ve hit the product on the nail, it can be an addiction, and then, I can see why real writers eat, breathe, and sleep about writing. I’ve only experienced a speck of dust of what they must feel like 24/7, but I ‘m so thankful that those people exist. Vonnegut. Steinbeck. Cohen. Coelho. Kantner. Hegi. Bloggers that I read all of the time on here. The list goes on and on.
I don’t hit the mark each time-in fact, rarely, but the release I get from the act itself is what keeps me going. With starting this blog, I knew that if my stuff was for the world to take in that I would do it more often, whether it was shitty or not. Period. Before the blog, there was this brief lapse of me doing it and I realized that this wasn’t going to work for me. So, here I am.
Outside of that though, I have also learned so much from my followers for all areas of my life. As a result, I do think more about my readers, which inspires me to write about things and places that I hope people will enjoy. By reading other blogs and other people trying to reflect about life, I’ve realized that discussing the smallest finite detail matters. I’ve learned that discussing fitness on different levels and from different perspectives can be life changing. I’ve learned that people can fuel each other without ever meeting them or knowing them on any deep level. I’ve learned that music really does cure all things. I’ve learned amazing cooking techniques. I’ve learned that discussing sex online can be authentic. I’ve learned that travel is a systemic love throughout all of us-in a sense. Deep down, I know that blogging is really just a social media experiment in some aspects, but I’ve learned so many things about writing, not to mention the world. It’s also damn cool to have such a global forum at our fingertips!
Thank you Word Press Followers-I’ve reached 200 of you and am looking forward to more because while I may write for me, I know I’ll continue to learn from you in all the areas of life.
Strucknwords 
I don’t publish, but I write nearly every day, call it journaling or musing. I have volumes that have accumulated over the years…that is until I got the iPad! Still something about occasionally writing with a pen on paper. I agree with what you write, “I write to journal, to debrief with myself, to think about the meaning of my experiences….to exist beyond surviving.” Writing helps give meaning to life and to deepen even the smallest experience. So thank you for sharing your writing, your experiences, as it asks us all to reflect a little deeper.
Thank you SO much! It’s good to receive feedback, but also to have the connection with so many people around the power behind the act of writing. Onward we go!