blogs

I wrote an article for relavantmagazine.com a while back entitled Taming The Technology Trap. While I believe the angle I presented - that technology can cause damage to human interaction, I also agree that techonology can seriously aid in human interaction. It was a tough article to write because of where I was at when I wrote it. I was struggling with how much I was sucked into all my "gadgets" and was seeing them as being destructive to human interaction. Plus, when you write those kinds of stories, being "wishy-washy" doesn't go over so well... People are going to disagree with the article no matter what, so I'd rather them disagree with an actual stance, instead of my fence riding.

But back to this idea of technology, more pointedly, blogs. I've had numerous conversations with people about the world of blogs and their functions. There have been speculations as to whether it is some sort of narcissistic act. It can be. There have been speculations that it is a sort of "public journal". It can be. There are other thoughts that it's a "foot in the door" to getting published. Could be. All of these thoughts can and may be true. But I'd like to share with you my reason for blogging, and what I absolutely love about this concept.

When I first started blogging, I had no idea why I was doing it. I knew that I was going on a road trip to California by myself, that I wanted to take my laptop with me so I could journal along the way, and that it could be a cool thing if some of my friends and family followed along with me as I traveled across the US. That was the initial start to it. Shortly after that, it became more of an online journal of sorts. I pretty much just wrote what I was thinking, and a few (we're talking like 3 or 4) of my family/friends read it. Then, after I became an intern at Relevant magazine, and a lot more people started frequenting my blog, it became an ego thing. I tried to post more important things, my writing style shifted to try to sound more professional than journalistic, I tried to become more humorous, and over all, the look and feel of my blog shifted a bit. I was also hoping that as more and more people landed on my blog, the more and more networked I would become.

That brings me to now, where I see a little bit of all of these, but there's still something more that makes doing this worthwhile. Community. Now, it's definitely a weird form of community, I'll give you that, but it's a form of community none the less. It's kind of interesting... When I talk to my friends that are here in person with me, and I'm telling them about a person I've met either via Relevant, Flickr, etc., it's weird because I'll say something like, "My Relevant friend..." or "My Flickr friend..." like somehow they haven't achieved the title of "friend" because I haven't met them live in person.

This whole blog community thing has been a strange one, but amazing. I've met people from all over, with lots of different backgrounds and interests, with different careers, different dreams and aspirations, and different lifestyles. And it rocks my socks off. I love some of the conversations I've had with people. I love asking them questions, and conversing back and forth. I love that we've been challenging each other with ideas, thoughts, and questions about God. I love the fact that I have people praying for me in different cities, states, and even countries. I love it that even though I've never met (and may never meet) some of these people, that I am able to feel comfortable having a friendship with them, and sharing our lives together.

But there's another aspect beyond meeting new people, and having new friends and that is the ability to have community with people who I already have strong relationships with, but with whom I don't share the same space anymore. I get to read about what's going on in their life, and they get to read about what's going on in mine. We can comment back and forth, challenge each other, and grow together without having to be in proximity to one another. I know that just recently, there has been a particular circle of my friends who have really gotten into visiting each others blogs... It's so awesome...

While I don't think that blogs by ANY means should replace face-to-face human interaction, I think that it's another angle of human interaction that has the potential to be huge. The impact it could have spiritually is a whole other post... But I just wanted to write a little bit about my appreciation for blogs today. For so long, I felt like such a geek for having one. Then, I felt egotistical. Now, I just feel blessed.

Thanks to all of you who come here, and allow me to be a part of your world as well.