Why Do I Blog?

A few days ago, The New York Times published an article about the high failure rate amongst blogs. According to the article most people begin blogging seeking fame and fortune. When those things fail to materialize, the blogger loses interest and the blog dies.

That article encouraged me to write a post about my own motivations for blogging. Why do I blog?

In my very first post, I wrote that I was beginning "with the same good intentions and aspirations of wit as hundreds of other amateur bloggers." It was vague and somewhat dishonest. But, about a month later, I was much more specific, writing:

I started this blog for a few reasons. I feel a blog is a wonderful way of sharing my experiences and my new life with family and friends, all of whom now live several layovers away. However, I blog mainly for myself - a reason, I think, that is fairly common amongst bloggers. I blog to reflect upon my experiences and my life in Guadeloupe, and to do so in an intelligent and thoughtful way. The prospect of having an audience ensures that I take the time to blog, and do so in a somewhat serious manner - both of which gives blogging a great advantage over a personal diary. Finally, I started this blog in hopes that it would help me adapt. I thought it might help me generate the excitement I lacked in making Guadeloupe my new home.

I had originally thought that blogging would be a good way to share my new life with my family and friends back home. I was mistaken about that. As my sister J. told me recently - simply and bluntly - 'I don't read your blog.' Although this is disappointing, it doesn't diminish my desire to blog.

I have no illusions that my blog will gain a large readership. Nor do I have expectations that my blog will lead to lucrative deals offering financial independence. Perhaps if I lived in Paris. Instead, I am the first to admit that Guadeloupe, and my life here, must interest very few people, if any at all. This suits me just fine.

Because I write this blog for myself. I don't think I had thought very hard before writing the post quoted above, but even then I had a very clear idea of why I was blogging.

Not wanting to seem stupid, I often research the topics I write about. Usually, research is just simple searches on the internet, but often it includes extensive reading. I have learned a lot this way. Blogging also encourages me to think thoughtfully about the things I learn, to understand Why Things Are the Way They Are. And somewhat miraculously, it has helped me feel more enthusiastic about living in Guadeloupe, as I had hoped it might. Certainly, blogging does not eliminate the enormous difficulties of making a new life here, but it seems to help.

I have the illusion that this is some grand adventure, and I, the brave explorer. Blogging gives me the impression that I am not alone in this strange new land, that there is at least one person who expects me to live through the day to write about it...

Blogging is a way of saying, I exist!

There is one reason that I did not foresee would become a motivation. I have not been very successful as a freelance translator, and the days and my life idle. Blogging allows me to work, to be productive. It is an outlet for my creative and intellectual energies, which otherwise would surely wither and die inside of me, making me very sick. Sometimes, on days where I have nothing to write, I come simply to look at my blog, fondly, as women past might have looked upon their children and said, "At least I have done this!"

I imagine that when I have made myself a real life in Guadeloupe, this blog will no longer be of use to me and I will allow it to simply die. But, I think those days are farther than I would like, and so, until then, I will continue to write.