What's It Blog About? - W8.D5

I've seen an increase in mentions of "sorry this blog is about..." in people's blogs lately. (Maybe I've just been paying attention to it more.) Some refuse to apologize, others apologize profusely. So it's got me thinking about SP Blogs and what they're good for.

First off, the vocabulary of the thing:
Blog is short for weblog, and I like this definition from dictionary.com --
a personal Web site that provides updated headlines and news articles of other sites that are of interest to the user, also may include journal entries, commentaries and recommendations compiled by the user

On Spark you can find all sorts of blogs, but it seems that the unwritten consensus is that blogs are there to inspire others and share helpful weightloss and fitness information. "Not so!" I argue. A blog is a personal thing, just as your "journey" here is personal. And while inspiring others is an added bonus, often leading people to be nominated SparkPeople Motivator, the important thing to focus on, I think, is the personal. What your blog needs to do for you. What YOU need to say. How what you type will help YOU achieve your goals.

There are all sorts of blogs on here too!

You've got the helpful blogs. You've got story blogs. You've got the check-in blogs. You've got food blogs. You've got the goal/weigh-in blogs. You've also got the bad day blogs, which I posted about before. You've got question blogs. And there are happy blogs too!

Length varies too! Some people are the blog every day with one or two lines. A quick check-in and hello, if you will. Others (like me, usually) write lengthy book-sized (or at least short-story-sized) blogs. These people tend to be the writerly type.

And I'm sure there are more you can think of (Vlogs are horses of a different color altogether). The point is, blogs are as different as the people who write them are from one another. What works for you may not work for me.

But the purpose of the blog is to motivate you, not someone else. It's about what you need to say and what you need to get off your chest. For me, I write what I'm thinking about most days because, otherwise, it will hound me until I actually do write it down. It'll keep me up at night asking why I didn't care enough about it to share it with all of you. Sure, I hope some of it helps you now and again. But that's not what it's about. (Like today...I know, right? Another blog about blogs? WTF, dude? Whatever, it wouldn't leave me alone so there it is...do what you want with it.)

A lot of these "sorry" posts I see come because people type out what I call "the life blog" or "the journal entry." Remember when you were 10 and your sister was mean to you and nobody seemed to care, so you pulled out your little leather-bound notebook with a lock (that never worked right) and pulled out a pen and you poured your guts into the little diary? You felt better when you tucked it back into its hidey-hole because you had released that energy and made room for something else. (Usually going back and trying to play with your sister again...even though she's "a mean poopy-head!") It was just the same when you got a crush or had a good day or something exciting happened or you got something you wanted for a really long time. You told your diary because you wanted to remember that on the 25th of December, 1994 you received a box set that included a Nintendo game system, Super Mario Bros. 3 game and Duck Hunt with a gun!

When those diaries went viral, like here on SP, other people got to share in your triumphs and miseries, and you made some friends out of it. You may have even found yourself with a popular blog post sticker... because blogs inspire us, whether you're trying to inspire us or not. What you need to write might be exactly what we needed to hear. What you ate for lunch might be what we want to try for dinner. What you are going through with your spouse might be the same situation me and mine are in. Or you make me giggle. Or smile. Or cry.

But, be all and end all, that blog was about you - not me. And while inspiring others may inspire you to continue growing, it's not about that...at least I don't think so. Thanks for the tears or laughter or the great idea, but I hope you remember to get as much out of your blogs as you can. They keep you honest with yourself. They show you what you've done, where you've come from, where you're going, and what you still need to know. They tell you what occupies your thoughts most days...and let you know if you should reassess how much time you think about THIS or THAT thing. It's like therapy for the soul...so learn and grow from it. And stop apologizing!

Keep writing...and do it for you!