Friends, Internet

31 Day Blog Challenge: Why I Blog

Today’s the last day of the 31 day blog challenge, and I’m so proud of myself to have made it all 31 days and written 31 posts! Yay! I’ve been looking forward to today’s prompt — Why do you blog?

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’ve been blogging nearly since I can remember using the internet! I started writing about myself online when I was 13 years old and started my first web site. I got my domain name, siren.org, when I was 15, and started a blog shortly after that.

Back then there was no blogger or wordpress or typepad. Each entry was individually added by hand. It was a lot of work, but I always enjoyed it. Blogging was a way for me to share my thoughts with people outside my circle and connect with new friends around the world. It was the internet, so there was no one to stand in front of me and judge me, and I liked that. I was able to speak more freely and enjoy my interests because finding friends who liked the same things was even easier than it was in person!

Many of the friends I met when I started blogging (like my amazing friends Crissy of Dear Crissy and Amber of Amber & Scott) are still blogging and sharing online, and we are still friends. Yes, 15 years later – which, if that’s a long time for a friendship in the “real world” – it’s a REALLY LONG TIME when it comes to an online friendship with someone you’ve never met in person. Of course things are different now. We are all grown up. Most of us are either over 30 or turning 30 very soon. We are mostly married, and many of us have a kid or two or three.

I love looking in on my old friends (and my new blogging friends, of course) via their blogs (and now facebook and twitter!) and seeing what they’re up to. I learn about so many new things from my blogging friends and being a part of the blogging community has broadened my horizons in many ways.

So, this brings me back to the question, why do I blog? I love connecting with friends old and new, and I love being inspired. Having my own blog as well as reading blogs written by others gives me both of these things. While sometimes I take a break from my blog, I always come back to it. I think that blogging is hard-wired into my DNA after all of these years. 🙂

2 thoughts on “31 Day Blog Challenge: Why I Blog

  1. I’m trying to remember how many years I must have known you. Ana started Lipstick Stains, then we moved to Out of Context. I think I was about 16 then, so I guess 15 years for us too?

    Time flies!

    1. Amy, I think you’re right! You know something funny, recently when I updated my iCloud, it added some VERY OLD email addresses to my iPhone address book. One of them is the Out of Context list. I was so surprised to see it in my iPhone, it brought back so many memories!

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