Why blog?

A few weeks ago, on a phone call with my mom, I started to tell her some story about the kids that I'd previously written about on this blog.

"Stop me if you already read this on my blog," I said.

There was a slight pause.

"Yeah, I was wondering something," she said, as if she was going to take the next step onto a carton of uncracked eggs. "Why are you doing this?"

My mind raced. Had I written something that she could've construed as unflattering? I didn't think so.

"Why are you blogging?" she asked.

It was at that point that I realized something. Even though my mom is totally comfortable using a computer, she doesn't like to use it as a communication tool. In fact, she rarely emails. Oh sure, she forwards the cute jokes, but doesn't use email (or God forbid, a blog) to spread information, like I do.

So, why am I doing this?

I started blogging a few years ago, when I was going through my divorce. I set up a private family blog so I could share legal updates and stories about the kids. It was simply more time efficient to post an update that 15 people could read, rather to make a ton of phone calls. And, when the news is kind of depressing, it's painful to rehash the same tragic story over and over.

But, over time, I realized I really enjoyed writing for fun. Combining that with a lot of my friends telling me I just had to write about my adventures as a single mom and dealing with a divorce. I always put a funny spin on stuff, and they egged me on to do it in writing. So that's when I began The Cold Cereal Chronicles, a collection of essays about single-parenting. I used the blog as an archive tool, but didn't consider myself a blogger. That term sounds about as positive as "computer hacker."

But then, as CCC began to take off visitors-wise, and I started getting comments and reading those folks' blogs, I began to appreciate what blogging's all about.

I have always appreciated good, clever writing. And I've found there are a ton of amazingly talented writers who blog. I've got a blog list over on the lower, right side of the screen. I invite you to check them out. These people write funny, engaging blogs about topics they love (their families). I think they're really good and aspire to be as good a writer as them. If you want to find more blogs on a whole variety of topics, check out blogher.com. (I read Michelle Obama's blog on there the other day!)

Blogging is a great way to express ones creativity. Designing a blog, crafting a story, editing/posting photos -- I love it. Blogging now fulfills a creative need in me.

Another cool thing about blogging is that it's an open dialogue with a community of others. Rather than a one-way communication like an email, where one person can reply or not, blog posts can have whole open forums, discussing topics, sharing opinions, giving encouragement. A person writes a post, others read it, and people discuss it via the comments section.

I strongly encourage you to leave a comment too. I'd love to hear what you think. If you're shy about sharing your name, do it anonymously! There's a term out there in the blogging world - lurkers. Lurkers are people who read blogs, but don't necessarily contribute (comment) to the conversation. They hang back in a corner and watch. Lurking isn't bad - in fact, I lurk from time to time. But it does defeat the purpose of an open dialogue if noboby else is contributing to the conversation.

I know a lot of my readers are friends and family who are new to the whole blogging thing, but I encourage you to comment on stories. Reading a blog doesn't have to be like reading a magazine. It's an online conversation.

So, if you were ever waiting for an invitation from me to add a comment, here it is: Please leave a comment.

Oh, that and check out some of the blogs in my list. Suburban Kamikaze is my newest favorite. It's hilarious. And don't just read those blog's posts, read their comments too. There's some hilarious stuff in there!

It feels a little silly, like I'm begging for your comments. But I think that some of my dearest friends, don't comment out of fear to "wreck" my writing or because they're uncomfortable having other people read their comments. To that I say, comment anyway. And do it anonymously if you're shy.

Seriously.