I sometimes wonder why I blog. Especially lately, a lot of the bloggers I used to really like have stopped blogging regulary, or even stopped their blogs all together. Sometimes, especially when I’m really busy, or not feeling to colourful in my head or inspired, I tend to question myself. Do I write nice enough that people actually would want to read what I have to say? Why do I do this? Why do I blog? While instead I could knit or read…or, which is often true as well… while could make assigments for college?;)
Why do it?
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Why do I spend time on formulating my thoughts on a certain topic and put them online? Why?
Why do I spend time on editing text and making nice photo’s? Why should I spend time writing long pieces and then filtering out the stuff I don’t want to share in public? Why? While at the same time I write a fair enough share of thoughts in private diaries as it is…?
All these thoughts are sometimes in my head…they visit me once in a while, together with seeds of other doubts or insecure points I have about myself.
Why do I blog then? I’ll tell you why.
Sharing. Giving something back to a community that gives me so, so much.
Other blogs inspired me to be try my hand at crafts, and I feel I need to give something back by spreading ‘the story of crafts’ on through the line.
Belonging. In connection with first point. Blogging gives me a sense of belonging. Belonging to an endless creative community. And I am part of that. And proud of it too!
Documenting. Documenting my own journey. So that the future me can be amazed about myself, the things I learned and the things I did. Because sometimes, being amazed at yourzelf is exactly what you need.
Inproving. Blogging makes me better. Better at writing, formulating my thoughts. Better at photography. It makes me a better creater. I do all these things better because of the blog, in some cases one could even say that without the blog I might not have learnt those skills all.
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Courage. Blogging gives me courage. Putting my thoughts out here…writing about stuff I make, making my words and actions therefore important enough that they matter…matter enough to be read by someone else. Posting pictures about stuff I make, write about stuff I make…basically shouting “Look, I made this… isn’t it pretty?!”
Posting pictures of myself. A few years ago I never would have tought I would do it…but here we are. Sometimes I stop and think about it…I think it’s really insane…
But I do it…and will continue to do so. Because what the comments, the love, the inspiration the community and the craft give me are endless. It gives me courage, courage to feel confident about myself and about the things that I think, it matters.
You…connecting. The feeling of connecting, sharing interest and ideas with people all over the world.
Being a sort of blog family in a way. Sometimes I get a lot of responses, most of the time I get an average amount and occasionally there is a silence. But that’s okay. I don’t always have someting to say either. I’m thankfull for the feedback and comments I get from you all.
My blog is not read as often as some of the super-popular blogs out there..but that’s okay. I’m also not the most organized person, or a regular blogger and, am in many ways still finding my writing ‘voice’…. this blog serves as a journal of finding that, of finding myself, of my journey through life. The point is that I love writing, I love sharing, I love creating and it matters…I matter…you matter. What you…I…we say matters. And that’s all there is to it.
Thank you for reading,
Xx
I think your reasons for blogging are the best ones. I don't have many readers, either, but I'm doing it for me. I like remembering what we did last summer, having a place online to keep my photos and thoughts handy, or seeing the proof that I'm growing in skill or creativity. I also like that the public nature of a blog keeps me from dwelling on negative things too much. And, yes, I like connecting with other people and learning from, or being inspired by,them.
Hallo Nelson,
Wij lezen altijd met bijzonder veel plezier je blog. Je stukken schrijf je mooi, zijn inspirerend en humoristisch met een gezonde kijk de wereld in.
Dank je.
Groeten Margot
Hoi Nelson.
Het is voor ons ook een kijkje in jouw wereld vanaf de afstand die ons fysiek scheidt.
Al deze dingen krijg je in een weekend niet bijgepraat (al ratel je er flink op los als je pas bent gearriveerd voor een weekend-verblijf bij ons).
Ga door met je creativiteit, en laat ons mee genieten.
Groetjes Frank
Overigens luister eens naar de groep Beirut (die plaat staat nu op bij mij), is heel apart met een grote diversiteit aan instrumenten.
Thank you for the effort you put into your blog. I may only check in once every few weeks, but it's so helpful to connect with "like minds." I especially like that you talk about many things, with knitting being the structural thread. It's like having a "pen pal" across the ocean who likes the same things I like! Your writing is fresh and your photography is appealing and varied.
Thank you for writing this. I feel the same way, too, but you have written it out so beautifully and clearly (formulated thoughts in evidence!)
Thank you everyone! I'm pleased to hear that a lot of you recognise my words for your own situation. It proves exactly my point of the big friendly blog community. 🙂
Deborah, thank you for mentioning the pen pal feeling! That is exactly what I feel about the blogs I read. I'm happy that I get to be that for other people as well!
xxx
I do enjoy reading your blog. I really like your knitting prowess and it really got me looking into knitting vintage things. Although I would heavily modify them, because I'm a plus size. How did that reindeer sweater come along? It looked gorgeous.
Thank you Sandra! Do you know Susan Crawford's books? Her patterns have quite a big size range so you might want to look into that.
The reindeer jumper is finished and I will blog about it later!