Wow, thanks for writing this ‘quick post’ and starting this conversation. Ever since I started blogging I often think about the ‘why’ bit – particularly, of late – the ‘why I don’t do it more often’. The reason I started a blog was, like Doug – because I wanted to be able to track the progression of my thinking over time. At the time I was very inspired by Julian Stodd, who writes a regular – generally daily- learning blog. Like your, his style is very conversational, and casual – he uses his blog to get ideas down, get feedback, revise and refine them. I really loved the idea of creating something which could demonstrate the evolution of your thinking over time. The thing that he said about blogging, that’s stuck with me, is that (like others have said here) he writes for himself. It doesn’t matter to him if no-one else reads it.

Around the same time, I was also discovering Harold Jarche’s concept of Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) – blogging is a good way to make ‘sense’ of your knowledge and experience. So, at a cognitive level, I had good reasons to start a blog.

But it was seeing a former work colleague of mine start his own blog that kind of gave me the courage to step out and actually do it. I needed to see someone else – someone who I identified as a peer- show me that it wasn’t such a big deal to get over the vulnerability, and self doubt and anxiety you speak of.

In terms of the ‘type’ of blogger that I am – I definitely identify with Jenny’s cautious approach. This is why although I’m quite a regular commenter on others’ blogs, my own blogging is somewhat erratic. It’s odd – but I feel much less pressure, and much less ‘on show’ when I’m simply replying to a comment on someone else’s blog. Because it’s more just like having a conversation really. I’ve also met some amazing people and had some really positive experiences result from commenting on other’s blogs (namely: I ‘met’ Jeff Merrell after commenting on his blog. Through this connection, I participated in his ‘Exploring PLN’ open online seminar, and have developed a lot of meaningful long term connections in my PLN as a result of the experience).

The biggest revelation to me when i started blogging was discovering this whole community of bloggers out here on the internet. I find it incredibly supportive, and i think you’ll find that anyone who blogs thinks a lot about why they blog, who for – and often – well, at least for those who aren’t daily bloggers) – feel somewhat guilty about not blogging more often. I’m over the guilt aspect of it, and have accepted that it’s my space that I use as I like. However, I would like to be less self conscious about my blogging, and let go of the compulsion to edit and re-edit before posting. This is really just about getting into a habit of daily writing. I’ve been amazed at how prolific the bloggers at rhizo14 are, and I think with so much going on in rhizo14 it offers an excellent opportunity to try daily blogging – I’d certainly not be stuck for things to write about! So: you’ve inspired me. I’m going to challenge myself to write a daily post for the next week (I’ve already actually done 2 in 2 days so I’m making those count…).

Thanks for the inspiration Maha!!