Why Blog?

New Year's day, we had a number of guests over for dinner. Don't know about you but having company is the reason for cleaning house. Our other guests agreed that everything seems fine until company is supposed to come over and then we all look at our humble abodes and tear around cleaning up. We promise that we will not let things get to this state of messiness again, until the next time. Our promise is to have someone over at least once a month and also try more new recipes.
During dinner, one of the topics of conversation was my blog. The question was: why do I blog? Who is my audience? Could I not just write in a journal and achieve the same goal? I know that I am not going to get a book deal although I am impressed with those bloggers who hit upon an idea that results in a fabulous deal: a book and tour and other spin offs.
I was inspired to try this by a friend who started blogging when she had time to contemplate where she was and what was going on in her life. Since I started, I have found that blogging is a good way to get my writing started for the day. During the past year, I have started writing essays that have been published in a number of journals. My letters to the editors are also published regularly. Have to start reading the paper with more attention to local matters. My letters to the editor tend to focus on local issues.
It is good to reflect on why we do things and if they are worthwhile. Right now, I do enjoy the process of blogging and searching for topics that hold some meaning for me and hopefully others. There are actually people who read this blog regularly and sometimes even comment on it.
Time to read the paper and reflect on life, need to find tomorrow's topic. No new recipes today.