Are You A Blog Addict?

Do you find yourself mesmerized by the computer screen, saying to yourself “Just one more blog…” like a midnight reader holding a superb book in hand wanting to turn one more page before sleep? Do you check your email and then wander off into blog land getting lost there? Sometimes the blogs I enjoy often lead me to other blogs which lead me to another and so forth like I am opening a set of those Russian dolls than open up to yet another, smaller doll. I loose track of time, am jolted when I see that a chunk of day, writing time, or a spell of housework time has vanished.


When blogging appeared on the scene, I said I would NEVER do that. I had started many journals in my life, thinking journaling was very worthwhile, but I never stuck with it. I certainly wasn’t going to journal publicly. The few blogs I did take a peek at were boring, self-centered rants. Nope. I had better things to do with my time.


Then last summer I felt a few new and unfamiliar cracks in my life and old patterns of adhering to life’s path were not working so well. I needed any little shot of something new to act as glue for me right then. I decided to venture into blogs and to see what the excitement was all about. Then I opened my own, knowing that thoughts would be public and vowing to not whine about things and to only find a positive outlook on whatever I wrote on the page.


I found both reading and writing blogs addictive. I gradually got a few followers and almost all were people I had never heard of before. They came from all parts of the country, and it was exciting to “meet” new people. Details from our lives began to mingle like eggs added to a cake batter…we blended. I have many people who read but don’t Follow, that read and don’t comment. I have noticed other blogs that invite readers to comment. I have never done that and maybe I should do it now, maybe I have not been welcoming enough to readers. I will do that now: Please feel free to leave comments. It is easy, does not entangle you in internet anything, and is much more satisfying, I think, than public places like Facebook.


On the other hand, even I don’t leave as many comments on other blogs as I used to do. I found that it does take time, and if you know me, you know I can get long-winded even at a keyboard! But I do try to leave comments when a sentence or idea startles, intrigues, entertains, or pleases me. I sometimes scurry through blogs to check them out, not staying long due to time. But some blogs I really look forward to like letters from old friends. I keep up on these new friends’ families, jobs, and creative adventures. Some give me ideas for my own life: where to shop, how to make a new recipe, offer a bit a writing advice.


Some blogs stick to a topic like photography, spirituality, cooking, etc. My own blog bounds over ideas and thoughts like a new puppy in a pasture, hopping from tea, to writing, to reading and on to family life and personal thoughts. I share photos and trips and notices of publication of my writing. Sometimes I don’t know why I write what I do, but then it is my blog. I can do anything I want here which is such a feeling of freedom!


Am I blog addicted? No, I don’t think so—not yet anyway. I keep an eye on the clock, limit my time here, but I do look forward to writing and reading blogs. If you are reading this, let me know why you return. Or let me know why you won’t take a look again if that is the way you feel. Maybe I can improve this blog’s shortcomings.


Welcome Reader…hope to see you again. Right now it is a new day and I have to click my Favorites list to check out today’s poems, get some writing tips, and say hello to a few friends.