Blogs as therapy

I have been thinking lately about the whole blog thing, about how people write about their lives, share extremely personal thoughts, and then them out into the world.

I remember once I stumbled across a blog written by a woman who had miscarried two babies, both around 20  weeks.  She was very connected to them, had named them, and described in detail what happened and how poorly she was coping with the loss of her children.  The last entry I read discussed how she was going to get therapy, which I was pleased to read, as I have never come across anyone as incredibly sad as this woman.

I have come to the conclusion that writing a blog is very therapeutic.  Somehow, the process of writing down the thoughts that are rambling through my brain, my heart, my life, and then publishing those ideas allows me to internalize them more effectively than if I was just simply thinking about them and chatting with friends.  A small number of people read suburban activist regularly, which is great.  But for me, what is even more powerful is the thinking that is required to write coherently about what is on my mind.

A high school teacher once said we should recognize the fact that while we were still students we should appreciate that someone had to read what we were writing.  Once we were out of school, that would no longer be the case... and in retrospect, I realize there is a tremendous amount of value in having to write an essay about a topic, as to do that requires a demonstration of understanding.  Having a blog, even a not very widely read one, extends that experience, but instead I am writing about my life experience as opposed to researching and commenting on history or english.  It is an interesting form of therapy, and I would guess for many other people out there that is part of the motivation for writing and publishing a blog.  I am here, this is my life experience, and even if only a few people read this the act of writing it feels good.

Even if we all really want to be Julie Powell.....