Why I Blog

In response to Zelin's latest post about why people have blogs, I decided to make an entry about why I personally chose to start blogging and why I have continued ever since.

I have actually had a blog far before using blogspot. I had a livejournal since about mid-2006 I think, when I was going through my prince of tennis obsession phase. Actually I'm sure that I started my livejournal while I was on a holiday in Melbourne because I was bored at the motel. I met a girl from my school while I was using livejournal (small world huh.), as well as other people from around Auckland who I have kept in touch with ever since. To be honest I didn't really post much on my livejournal, just rants and random fangirling and quizzes and memes. However even back then my blog was called Tori no Tsubasa. Livejournal was more than a blogging site though: it was a treasure trove of resources where manga and asian magazine scanners and translators congregated together. That was the reason I stayed on livejournal for a long time instead of moving to xanga or any of the other alternatives.

My blogspot had humble beginnings; at the end of november 2007, my friend Bernie had a blog and was always venting her negative feelings. Which is fair enough, but I decided to make a blog and post happy things to counter them so I could make her smile when she was sad. My first entry turned out to be more or less of an event recount (you can still go back to see it if you want haha, I never delete entries for a reason I will discuss later).

After I made that post, a few of my other friends started blogging on blogspot, so that kept me here. The reason I didn't update my lj so much before was that there wasn't really anyone reading my posts. I guess that's a factor of blogging too; although I say I blog mainly for my own reference and sometimes to vent, the fact that I'm actually venting to someone is motivation hahahaha. I like how I'm complaining to noone in particular but people will still read my frustrations. It's like when you yell at a wall, it feels better if there are people on the other side who can hear you rather than just yelling at a wall, like that philosophical thing with the "if a tree falls in a forest and noone is around to hear it, does it make a noise?" Maybe I feel like my words might as well not be there unless someone reads them, regardless of who that person is.

Never looked back since those first few posts hahaha. Well, figuratively. still go back to look at them when I'm bored and it's really interesting how even my tone of typing has changed. Soooo childish back then hahaha. some of it makes me cringe, but I'll never delete it. I think my blog is like a log of my maturing over time and the changes I go through. My blog, for me, isn't just something for other people to read, it's something for me to come back to in the future and read over. It's like creating history. I think history is very important, and that's why I will never delete any of my blog entries (just like I never delete any emails from my inbox, except facebook spam). Oh yeah, and I like how my archives go down on the side from november 2007 to present. :] it's so nice and uniform and I like how I've never missed a month hahaha. a COMPLETE history of my adolescence, highs like mountains, lows like gorges and flats like airport runways all attached. =P

Another reason I blog is to let out all my thoughts and reorganise them. If you're a follower of my blog you should be familiar with my random long winded and extremely mind-twisting philosophical writings (I have to say I sound extremely eloquent and sophisticated when I'm in one of those moods lol). When I get into one of those moods it makes me depressed because thoughts go around in circles in my head without head or tails and so I have to blog to spew it all out and untangle everything. Oh and after that I have a very clear thought process out physically so I can actually follow my thoughts and I can actually learn a lot from what I have written :] Sure, not everything can be expressed in language, but I try my best. I've been told that people actually enjoy reading my philosophical wafflings as well haha, so win/win?

A blog is a tool of spreading information. When I see something really cool, I share it on my blog (and potentially facebook). I think it's a great way to expose my friends to my interests :] because sharing is caring~

In a way, I guess my blog is a lot like the window into my thoughts. I think someone can learn a lot about what kind of person I am just from reading my blog posts. I know people who have actually taken the time to go through every single entry hahahaha and WOW I am impressed. So much useless waffle in between things of any value XD Tbh I don't think there's anything wrong with putting useless things in one's blog either, since they are just one's random thoughts. And it's that person's personal blog!!! I think sometimes the personality of a blog can be ruined if the blogger starts publishing things just to please the audience. Just like a musician or movie director, the best works are often the debuts, when they have an idea fresh in their minds that they want to portray and aren't too fussed about what the public is going to think. But after they become popular, they have intense pressure to stay at the top, so the individuality is lost; they start producing what is 'safe', what everyone is sure to like. But I think that level of like is lower than the love for original thought, if done right. That's why I don't bother trying to please anyone with my blog, since it is, after all, just a record of my being, not anyone else's. Don't like, don't read. :] I know I can't please everyone, but just having some people actually enjoying reading my thoughts is enough for me to be thankful that I'm not insane after all =P

So there you go, a breakdown of why I continue to blog 2 and a half years after I started... and I have every intention to keep going :] no plans to kill off this wingless bird yet ^^