I love blogging. It allows me to truly be myself, to express words and feelings that come to mind without having to think about them. Stories that would be otherwise untold rise to the surface and hurtle themselves at the page through my fingertips.
When I jumped into this creative ocean, I had no idea what to expect and absolutely no realization that I would cast myself into a sea of churning drops of water that, although they combine to create a large body of water, each possess qualities that make them truly unique. The vast array of blogs that I read allows me to look at the world through different eyes and see things in a way that may have escaped my attention. They create a path for me to follow through a portal into an inspired world that I may never have found on my own.
(image courtesy of naturealive.asia)
The Trifecta Challenges embody these varying degrees of interpretation. A great number of bloggers are given the same challenge and no two entries are similar in any respect, apart from following the rules for submitting posts. Each writer is struck by a lightning bolt of creativity but that bolt is generated from a completely exclusive storm and the raindrops of ideas saturate only their mind.
When I post an idea I look forward to the comments I receive. Initially I would have child-like reaction if a comment held an opposing view, but I have come to appreciate being able to see my thoughts from another perspective. Each comment is like a golden pin of light shining through the words, altering the original picture and making me look at my own thoughts in a different way.
This blogging journey has expanded my mind, not only in my writing but also my ability to ingest words from other writers and see the world through their eyes. And whether their world is dripping in sarcasm, prolific with poetry or fraught with haunting truths I enjoy being a part of their journey as well as having them be a part of my literary pilgrimage.
How has blogging changed your world?
polysyllabic profundities 
I love your last paragraph–that is how I feel too — you described it perfectly — reading the words of others has opened up a whole new world for me
Thanks. I’m glad someone feels the same way!
Of course it has. You know it has.
PS. Those two main lightning bolts form the outline of South America.
Wow…I hadn’t noticed that. Not enough coffee, I guess.
Coffee rules.
I’m sitting at the office on a Sunday….more coffee could be the key to me not slipping into silent madness.
Silent? If you’re going to go mad don’t hit the mute button. Go all out.
Balls to the walls!!
There you go.
Blogging means I go to sleep later now.
On the other hand, it means I have something to do at work, so…
Haha….I came in to work today to get ahead of all the stuff I have to get done next week, and I’m sure you can tell how much I’m accomplishing at this moment……sigh.
I love blogging, too and I’ve been doing it for 2 1/2 years. On Red’s blog I’ve kept a total word count and it’s now over 179,000 words!!! That’s enough for 4 books in the non-cyber space world, and I’ve wondered about my disciplined blogging vs. my undisciplined writing for other purposes. I decided there’s something magical about hitting the “Publish” button when I finish a post that makes for instant gratification. My other books take years to write, struggles to find a publisher, and marketing efforts to promote the sale. A very long process with little rewards. Blogging, on the other hand, offers me an opportunity to reach an audience of readers from around the world. Immediately. So yeah, it’s neat. I think I’ll keep at it.
What a great way of looking at it….thanks for leaving the comment!!
Since I’ve started blogging, I’ll admit, my time spent on my WIP has decreased, but I’ve met so many wonderful people from all over the world. 🙂
Agreed….I feel the same way!
Blogging is like my weekly newspaper column on steroids. It allows instant feedback and, even better, a connection with people from all over the world who offer perspectives and insights I would’ve otherwise missed. I am inspired every day on so many levels simply by clicking “Freshly Pressed” and “Blogs I Follow” and opening up a treasure chest of insight, inspiration and many other words that start with an “I.”
Intriguing thoughts….see what I did there? Haha….I can’t help myself. It’s Sunday and I’m at the office. 😦
I too love the many new friendships I’ve developed all over the world. My new extended family, of sorts!
Haha! Very nice 🙂 Yeah, I’m making a rare Sunday appearance at the office as well 😦 Our daughter’s volleyball tourney is 200 miles north, and my son’s basketball tourney was 120 miles south. My wife drove up last night with our daughter because they had an 8 a.m. start time. My son finished up last night and stayed with his grandma, so I’m “baching” it until late tonight. Figured I’d get ahead for next week. As you can see, it’s really going great! 😉
Damn distracting blogging friends!! 😀 I’m sure you can tell my focus on my job is as strong as yours!!
LOL 🙂 It’s SUNDAY. Good intentions should be good enough.
I always do like the way you think, Ned!! 😀
Speaking of an opposing view – I’ve had the most amazing blogging day today. I’m writing it up now and will post it tomorrow just in case there are any updates between now and then. I’ve got a person called ‘anon’ commenting on my Tax Office Grinch post. I checked their IP address (through my comments dashboard) and did a latitude/longitude search only to find that they are posting their bitter (and odd) comments from the Tax Office national office! LOL! I’m in fits 😀
Oh my God!! I was up early to set aside time for WIP, but I’m heading to your comments right now!! Can’t wait to read the new post….lol.
It’s going to need a lot of careful consideration. I’m contacting the media unit at the tax office before I post it to give them the heads-up 😉
Ooh, so much drama for a Monday morning (in Canada)!! Can’t wait to hear the follow up!!
For me it has been a doubled edged sword. Over the years on livejournal and more recently here I have found some really great blogs to read so that has been the positive side of blogging for me. The negative side is that I struggle with words (i.e. how to explain something) in a way that I like and so often find it frustrating.
I do too, sometimes, but I find the more I write, the more I can hear my voice in my words. It’s been a fun journey so far.
Good: discovering some like minded individuals out there, starting to think about things that surround me in a new way (how would I write this on the blog? and how about this thing which I would otherwise ignore, isn’t it quite a little gem? etc) and then being humbled and gratified by someone in Cote de Ivoire or Finland or UAE taking the time to actually read me!
Bad: so absorbing! I wake up and the first thing I do is check out the blog! If this blog was a cat it would get its breakfast more promptly than any pet I’ve ever had:)
I agree with both of those points. I love meeting new friends and having so many life moments turning into potential blog posts. But I am rather addicted to the site, writing and reading. I guess I could be doing worse things with my time!