I Wish Everyone Would Write a Blog

That’s right.

In this day of Tick Tock videos, where people film themselves for one minute bites of sensationalism, I wish that everyone would write a blog.

I don’t mean just the people exhibiting themselves on social media. I mean EVERYONE. I wish every single person would write a blog.

Part of that is because I am tired of seeing and listening to people ramble on about random happenings in their day. It’s noisy and irritating. Scrolling through Tick Tock is like watching a TV channel that plays only commercials. Pretty soon it just becomes noise.

I also can’t help but feel like the person I’m seeing is an act. I doubt those people look, dress, and act like that in their normal day. They plan scenarios and play roles like actors. They stage their surroundings. Little, maybe nothing, is real.

Is blogging any different? Don’t people present themselves in some kind of role? Don’t they pretend to be something they are not?

Yes. Perhaps. And perhaps.

But that isn’t the point.

I’ve learned a thing or two about myself while writing this blog. And anyone reading it will have learned something about me. 

Collecting Your Thoughts

I wish everyone would write a blog because the act of writing forces the author to confront their thoughts and feelings, to sort through them, understand them, challenge and question them, and finally form them into coherent expressions of language. 

Then, after figuring out how to express their thoughts and feelings, they think about how to write them down in a cohesive way that conveys their point. 

Then, after they write it down, they have to reread and rewrite it to make the words flow smoother. 

The writer becomes intimately familiar with their own thoughts and the process of expressing themselves clearly. 

Aren’t you tired of dumb people? I talk to folks all the time who say it feels like the world has become overrun with idiots. 

To be fair, most people are not dumb. They just have not trained themselves how to think. They have not trained themselves how to read, analyze what they have read, and formulate thoughts about it. 

They have been trained how to passively watch hour after hour of social media posts.

When I started to write a blog, much of what I wrote was embarrassingly bad. I would cringe when I reread my work. I deleted much of it because I would have been humiliated if someone else saw it. It took a lot of practice to produce something that I was not ashamed of. Even now, I’m still embarrassed. My writing is nowhere near as good as I would like it to be. But it is leaps and bounds better than it was when I started. That is not because I’ve stumbled on a secret formula for writing. It is because the act of writing forced me to collect and digest my thoughts, and to think about how I can express them. The better I think, the better I write.

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone would take time to collect their thoughts and think carefully about how to express them? Can you imagine a world where EVERYONE was carefully considering what they thought and how best to express it? 

Personal Integrity

I wish everyone would write a blog because it can make them more authentic.

When I started to write a blog, I thought first about what topics people would want to read. I tried to write about those topics, but found I had no passion for some of them, no experience in others, and no knowledge of many. I fell back on writing what I know: suffering many bumbling misadventures due to my introverted nature. 

I embraced the topic, the words came a little easier, the process more enjoyable. It taught me what was important to me. Cars, recipes, gardening tips, home improvement skills, tech tricks, and financial advice were all topics I read about, but what stood out to me when I wrote was my relationship to other people and the wide world in general.

When you start to write, you too will discover what topics are closest to your heart. It teaches you who you are. All you have to do is follow that thread with authenticity and integrity.

Can’t you do the same thing with a video? 

It is possible, but not likely.

Ever since we were kids we were taught to “smile for the camera.” In other words, look your best and pretend you’re happy. 

The beautiful thing about writing is that no one is watching you. You can be quiet, be comfortable, be yourself. By the time you are done writing, you edit not to present yourself as something you’re not, but to make sure what you’ve written is expressed as concisely as possible. You are not trying to make yourself appear to be great, or beautiful; you are trying to be understood.

Suddenly, you become more aware of your own thoughts and feelings. You begin to analyze those thoughts and feelings before you express them. 

When you make a video of yourself you can doctor your face with makeup so you look prettier, put music to it so it sounds catchier, and use filters to make the whole thing look as slick as a Hollywood production. 

When you write, there’s none of that. You can’t rely on makeup or music or filters to make your message more appealing. Your words are the real you, not a face you hide behind makeup. The tone and rhythm of your word choice is your music, not the recycled hit single that everybody is using in their video. What spills across the page is you in your purest form, like paint from an artist’s brush or notes from a musician’s instrument. 

Why Should I Write a Blog if I Don’t Want To

You’re an adult. Do what you want. 

But, consider:

Writing forces you to think about yourself, to think about how you communicate, and to be more authentic. If you want those things from other people, then why not do them yourself. 

If you would rather everyone else be fake posers who are loved for their makeup, or their carefully crafted image, instead of for who they really are, then don’t write. Spend your time scrolling on your phone and smiling for your selfie.

If you often find yourself thinking, “The world is full of idiots,” then quit complaining and start doing something. Begin by writing. Then encourage everyone else to write.

Why wait for everyone else to do it first? There are plenty of free platforms you can use to blog. Start one. Write something. Be regular about it–once a month to start. Then maybe once a week. 

The most common rebuttal is: “I’m not a good writer.” Well, few of us are. That’s not the point. The point is to better yourself and encourage others to better themselves through writing.

If the goal is to write and better yourself, then why publish it on a blog? 

• Writing for an audience forces you to think about how to express your thoughts. Your writing is different when you know someone else is going to read it. 
• Writing is meant to be read as sure as paintings are meant to be seen and music is meant to be heard. If you know that no one will ever read what you’ve written, it will feel like you’ve spent hours talking to a wall. It will feel pointless, and when you’re investing time and energy into something you think is pointless, you will give it up eventually.
• Writing for an audience motivates you to continue with consistency. If you know, or even just hope, that someone will read your work then you will feel the pull to continue.
• Sharing publicly builds a following and community with readers. Once people start reading and relating to you, they will reach out in some way. They may comment or email you or share your writing on their own pages. When you discover that other people have read and appreciated your thoughts, you are moved in a way you haven’t been before.
• Sharing publicly will also motivate someone that reads your work and decides they too have something they would like to say about the subject. They will think: “If she can write a blog about fashion, then I can write one about parenting;” or “If he can write a blog about fishing then I can write one about Bigfoot.”

The world will slowly become filled with blogs. If you want to know more about your neighbor or your dentist or the clerk that scans your groceries, you can look up their blog. You feel closer to them, more understanding of them, more connected to them. 

They will become more deliberate with their words, more careful with their language, more expressive of their thoughts, and more authentic in their communication. 

I write because I want to grow and improve upon my self. Anyone else who takes up writing will do the same.

Thanks to Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay for the images.