Blogging Therapy

Journaling has been a means of self-expression since people figured out how to write and paper became readily available. The reasons why are interesting.

First of all, there is an element of immortalizing oneself. Now, it is arguable in each individual case as to what degree this takes place, but the fact of writing something down saves it for others to read, thus creating a potentially lasting document that links the dead writer with the living world. In a similar, albeit much more grandiose manner do we see ancient heroes striving to accomplish great deeds that would earn them a place in their people's oral history, ensuring that they would "live on" after their mortal remains were dust. I sincerely doubt that the average teenage scribbler would admit to a desire to leave a posthumous legacy of literature, but nevertheless, the thought of leaving something of one's self for future generation is at least an aspect of journal-keeping.

Probably the most important role of journaling regards release. Especially in women's writing, keeping a diary is almost requisite in saying the second half of what you believe. Take LM Montgomery as an example. With one hand, she wrote those sunshiney, optomistic tales of courageous orphans, dedicated and loving children, and reunited families. With the other, she recorded her own life, with its continual fight against depression, her disillusionment with her marriage, her severe disappointment in her children, her constant questioning of her worth as an author. Some have queried if her habit of introspection actually hastened her unhappy death, as she became so absorbed in the legacy of unhappiness that she recorded for herself to the point that she no longer could see happiness in her life for its own sake. End of digression. However, the point to this story is that Montgomery needed her diary as a channel for the unhappy emotions she hid from others or kept out of her stories. In a smaller way, many of us unknown journalers write for the same reason.

So where does blogging fit into all this? Well, it is disingenuous to say that times have changed, the digital age is upon us, and writing is unpopular if not inconvenient... but it is true. I suspect that many still do keep written journals (I do) for the keeping of truly private thoughts. But for the majority of thoughts, they can be shared with a select public. In fact, this notion of writing privately but knowing that an undetermined public with be reading your "private" thoughts is a clever way of getting your story out. Think Bram Stoker's "Dracula." Mina Harper journalizes the majority of the story, and from her style, one has the impression of reading a private diary. However, one also knows that she is writing her private impressions with the knowledge that others will read them. Clever. I think that blogging is a similar thing. The writer can write with the feeling of privacy because in most cases, he/she will never know the readers. Writing for an unknown and unseen audience often frees the author to write with less self-censoring.

Which leads to my point to this entry. I like blogging because it helps me to organize my thoughts without the physical discomfort of writing for an hour. Secondly, writing is theraputic for me. Just the exercise of coming up with a topic, developing a thesis statement, organizing an argument is good for my mind. I try to keep truly private topics for my journal, but blogging gives me a sense of sharing something even though no one may be listening.