Why I blog?

Dine Racoma

Blogging, to me, is another form of "literary" medium, a new one, as opposed to the traditional media--books, magazines, journals, etc., in hard copy. Blogging allows one person, as the owner of his/her own blog, to freely post articles in one's own writing voice/tone, without going through an editor. As it is immediately published, and one gets instant gratification. Blogging is a medium to share experiences with, and to reach out to people. This, however, entails responsibility, responsibility to one's readers, and respect for other people in the blogosphere.

I blog almost every day. My readers have to get a clear indication of how regularly I blog, so that they will know when to come back. My blogging is kinda witty, light material, open, sometimes personal, sometimes funny, sometimes poetic. My favorites are my series on "The Joy of Being a Mother".

My main objective in blogging is to put my free flowing thoughts in essays and poetry, and eventually share, educate, entertain, and sometimes inform. Blogging has done a lot of things for me:

• Blogging has made retirement easy for me. No transition, no regrets, no post-retirement blues, no sadness, ALL joy. Now, I am doing what I like doing most--writing. It's my passion. Yes, it's true, In the past, I would write everyday: endless templated memos, endless templated letters, endless templated reports. Now, I am free, I can write anything that I would like to write about, with no templates, no rules, no boundaries. Now, I am more aware of my surroundings, creating thoughts out of anything interesting that would catch my eye, taking snapshots, scribbling notes, which I could eventually shape into the art (yes, I call it an ART), known as a BLOG.
• Blogging has helped me recreate myself. Slowly, I have made a career out of writing (content, research).
• Blogging has unearthed for me new friends--they're my latest finds, my latest gems. Diverse interests, different personalities, all ages (doesn't matter at all) living in different parts of the planet, sharing experiences, expressing thoughts, crazy thoughts, sane thoughts, concocting out whatever is in their minds, new recipes, amazing photographs, anything, accepting me for all my writing worth. Sometimes, I wonder–are they really from this planet? are they for real.
• Blogging has made me keep my old friends. In the past, I would have daily lunches with best friends and weekly drinks (those margaritas are unforgettable!), mostly blah blah blah of daily toiling and bickerings. Now with thoughts passionately written, hilariously explained, secrets bared, I am sharing more than what was shared in daily lunches and weekly drinks.
• Blogging has helped me find classmates, former colleagues, former neighbors, even the dead.
• Blogging has made me understand my children more better. When I was not into blogging yet, I would PEEK into their blogs and other social networking media (friendster, my multiply, tweeter) to catch up with what they and their friends are up to. Now i would DIGEST each sharing and each emotion expressed.

Some tips on blogging: Be yourself, think about your readers. If you want to reach an international audience, use English. Mind your grammar, at least subject-verb agreement should be correct. Interact with your readers.Give personal touch in responding to comments. Visit other blogs, too, and make meaningful comments. Do not plagiarize, do not post photos of other people without either asking their permission or acknowledging their source, do not smear other people's reputation.

Here are some personal high blogging points in my blog life. When a reader sends me an email or a comment saying that I have touched his/her life, I am happy. Each time I see my daily statistics come up is a high for me. Each time I receive a comment, I am happy. High point in blog life is when others link me, others discuss about me in their blogs. When the big wigs/pioneers in blogging write about me or acknowledge my work, I am happy.

About earning money? My primary reason in maintaining my blog is to share my thoughts and experiences with my readers. I also keep my blog because it is one way of networking and introducing myself--of telling my readers that hey, here is a writer. It also showcases my writing skills. Through this blog, I was able to earn money--it has caught the attention of some people who wanted help in writing and research. I have adsense, though this is not much. I have learned from a recent local blogging summit that blogs can be monetized. I am trying to learn about how one can get passive income or residual earnings through the blogs.

 

Originally posted as: The D Spot (Doodh Patti)