on writing...

Something I think about...

Why have I taken so well to blogging?

Just recently I was looking over a bunch of my blog entries from November -- a month where I'd committed to (and succeeded!) blogging every single day. Rereading many of the entries re-inspired me, both as a teacher and a blogger. I think one of the reasons it was so empowering was because I was thinking, reflecting again about things that were on my mind in November.

When I was younger I would sporadically write in a journal, but it was never a habit I could develop or maintain for any length of time.

Yet somehow this idea of SHARING writing in blog format has really clicked for me. I don't know if it's the idea of it being public, or the idea that friends and family might read something and come to me to talk more, but something about it makes me aware of what I write in a way that I never was before. As a teenager, sure I was worried that someone might find and read my private thoughts, but I was vaguely aware that I didn't know who my audience was. Was it me? So if it was, why bother to write it down when I could just think it? Now, though, while I write knowing that others might read (which I both love and encourage!), I think I've realized that my audience is, well... me.

As a teacher, so much of my day is spent by myself with my students. One a particularly full day, I might have another teacher with me for two hours, tops. Generally, though, it's my students and me for 90% of the time. So, that's a whole lot of just me to grapple with. When I take the time to write out something about which I'm wondering (academic choice) or something that amazed me, or something I needed to feel... it's out there for me to read, later on. It serves so many purposes, not the least of which is reminding me why I teach, why I love it in spite of the things that dishearten and discourage me. Also, when I reread, it's often just me thinking with myself.

So, maybe that's exactly why I've taken to it so well. I write with the idea that I'm talking to my future self, in anticipation of further thinking.

Whoa.