I’m following in turn as my peers have already done this week. Brian, LexBlog’s designer wrote a straightforward and meaningful post in response to Bob’s Ambrogi’s criticism of content marketing and COO Garry’s difficult question of “Why do you blog?”. In order to get where I’m at, you’d have to know where I’ve been.

My first blog about government policy was in 2004 for a class I was taking in High School. After a series of heated debates (some name calling) and a school ban on political blogging, I didn’t blog again until 2014. Grim’s Gratitudes was my failed attempt to be a good cook and a good writer. I was working pantry and got to meet quite a few chefs. Unfortunately, I never published the dozen or so interviews I had conducted.

In 2016, during grad school, a professor suggested I start a blog. I began Tech Comm Corner with the intent to help everyday people recognize common technical writing uses. You can sort of see the similarity in thought with this blog. After some disappointing responses from family/friends, it never launched. I still have all the materials and posts though. Maybe someday I’ll get the nerve to launch it.

When I started at LexBlog, blogging was not only expected, but encouraged (Yes, that was intentional). I started a few blogs. The first was dedicated to the odd antics of my friends group aptly named The Currently Undecided. The second Intentional Vulnerability was a guiding journal for my fiance and I during our courtship.

Each of my blogs had their own use, their own purpose. This blog, used to showcase my thinking of rhetoric, follows in line.

My insecurities always involve my value. Many of my blogs died because I couldn’t see the value. Some died because the people in my support network didn’t see the value. Then there were others that didn’t see me as valuable. There was a long string of coaches, professors, and bosses that felt the need to say, “You’re not good enough” or “You don’t belong here”. That’s a post in and of itself, but my point still stands. It’s difficult to blog when no one is reading.

Blogging for me is placing coin after coin into a treasure chest with the hope that someone someday might find it and think I brought value into this world. Blogging is a way for me to tell myself I have value, that my ideas are valuable. I tell myself I have good ideas and those ideas are valid, useful, and unique.

I’ve been blogging on EDR for over a year. I’ve missed weeks, but I haven’t missed a month. I see that I have a voice. That voice means something to me. Makes me wonder if I would ever get that same feeling if it wasn’t for my blog. Honestly, that’s not a topic that I will explore anytime soon, but for now, I see what I need to see.

I’ll continue to serve up my ideas on here. Even if I’m the only one reading.

Why do you blog?