Perhaps it is the lingering effects of Catholic guilt that nibbled away at my mind these last few months, whispering, “Sarah, you’re neglecting your blog,” that caused me to sign up for WordPress’s “Blogging 101”. Perhaps it was curiosity. Maybe both. The fact is: I haven’t been as attentive to my blog as I once was.

Sure, it happens to everyone. Life happens, things change. People get busy doing those jobs that pay for their lifestyles and the “fun” stuff gets put on the back burner.

Those very things have happened to me and I’m trying to get back to writing for this blog. Writing period. So, between emails from Blogging 101 and daily writing prompts from Sarah Selecky, I’m at least thinking about writing more.

Today, I’m tackling the first assignment: Introduce Yourself to the World.

I got caught up in Life happening. The goats were being born. The garden needed planting and now has been ripening. Work takes up 45+ hours a week.

I’ve been at this blogging thing for four years. If course, that’s twelve years less than my marriage to Mr. Muse, 20 years less than my relationship with one of my orchids and 35 years less than I’ve been on this planet.

So, why am I still at it?

Like my favorite flannel shirt (17 years longer than this blog), I’ve grown attached and I would miss it. It’s an investment of time, effort, and frankly, myself. It’s something I can claim as my own, even if my writing gets a bit threadbare, like my flannel shirt.

Because of this blog I ventured forth to two blogging conferences and met some really wonderful people. Considering I’m fairly asocial (that’s the latest buzzword, not to be confused with “antisocial”), surrounding myself with people who love their blogs was both intimidating and comforting all at once. I met people who blog purely for the joy of writing, some who love it and make money, and still others who have used their blogs as launching points to further their careers in journalism and various forms of media, not to mention writing books (a personal aspiration).

So, to answer one question for this assignment, “Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?” Because I write in journals the same way I write here – like I’m writing to a friend. Only, a blog often gets answers to the questions I put forth to the universe. A journal, not so much.

And maybe that’s why I’m still here, still writing, even if it it’s less than before: to get answers. A response. To leave behind my mark on the world since I’ve chosen not to leave it with progeny.

I write because, like gardening and raising livestock and spending a great many hours in the kitchen cooking and baking, it makes sense to me. It makes me happy. If ever I was passionate about anything, or many things, writing is one of those things.

I blog, I write, because it’s what I do. The same as when I write myself short stories in my younger years. The same as telling stories to my cousins and listening to my mom tell them to me. Writing is always something I have done. It is who I am.

Your turn:

Do you blog? Why?

Why do you read this blog?