What Blogging Means to Me

Blogging & Me

For Nada 's "Contest For Bloggers!"  -489 words

         A few years ago, I decided that I needed to keep a journal. So many things were happening in my life, and I was compelled to sort them out on my own – without the help of anyone else. I was loud and outgoing, but when it came to personal things, I was withdrawn and secretive. I wasn’t very good about sharing problems or even achievements. Not with my parents, my friends, my sisters – anyone. I was convinced that I could do everything on my own.

         So I tried journaling. It worked for a bit, anyway. I felt better after writing everything down, but it didn’t solve my problems. Yes, I was getting my happiness, my pent-up anger, my fears, and my growing-up problems down on paper, but I longed for someone I didn’t know to advise me and comfort me and support me in all my decisions and accomplishments. However, I wanted it to be someone who couldn’t betray me or judge me on the foundation of who I had been. This was impossible, seeing as how I knew everyone in my small community.

         The answer came to me in the form of blogging. I didn’t start a blog until after I’d become comfortable with Writing.com. The whole concept ‘bloggled’ me. I made some friends, learned a bit more about writing, and found that I had the urge to share my life with these strangers. Though I had developed a better relationship with my parents, I still lacked true friends. I was –and still am- pretty mature for my age, mature enough that I don’t fit in well teens. I tend to get along better with adults.

         Blogging has brought me so much farther in life, changing me little by little. I have found a family, one that I can always turn to. Though I can’t see these people, and have never met any of them, their presence is always felt. They provide what I have been seeking for years. I have found support, wisdom, and kindness. I can count on advice, encouragement, and consolation from my blogging friends.

         It also resolved my fear of talking seriously with others about myself. In less than a year, I have found telling people exactly who I am and how I feel about things to be so much easier. Blogging has strenghtened my writing skills, boosted my self-confidence, changed my view on the world, and kept my emotions in check. In between this site and blogging, I have become a much happier person and it has helped me discover who I really am and what I want in life, though I thought I knew before finding this site. Writing itself is a great therapy, but when you have a wonderful home like Writing.com and a family that is there for you all the time, it’s hard to go through each day without a smile on your face and sense of belonging in your heart.

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"The Trials, Triumphs, and Thoughts of Me"