You're doing it wrong...

So I just spent an hour reading blogs by Marc Ensign and they were thought provoking and well written and I enjoyed them quite a lot. They were recommended to me by a friend of mine who writes a clever little wine blog after we had a conversation about narcissism on the web. I'm pro narcissism by the way, not that you wouldn't have known that already, after all I'm writing this aren't I?

Anyway....while reading Mr. Ensign's well thought out and edited and planned blogs I read all of the ways that I am doing it wrong. I publish too much. Write often, publish less frequently was a suggestion. Basically write everyday, like I do but only publish once or twice a week. That way only your very best stuff gets out there. Edit, rethink, reread, polish, perfect! All of this is brilliant advice and would deliver a superior product to you, my handful of readers. And possibly deliver more readers to me. And while there was a part of me doing the amen pew nod while reading there was another part of me that was quietly settling in to the corner, arms crossed, lips pursed, eyes beginning to roll.

Because here is the real secret, I like my blog raw. I really do. It's a brain dump space for me. Sometimes something really awesome comes out of here that sparks discussion and debate. Sometimes something really awesome comes out of here that triggers memories and sharing of stories. Sometimes something really awesome comes out of here that you ask to hear more about. Fiction or nonfiction. And sometimes what I write is pretty much a waste of space. But that's my blog. It's Totally Random But....

The whole reason I started blogging was as a way to hold a conversation online with anyone who wanted to listen. Knowing full well that sometimes no one would. But as I started writing I discovered that really the function my blog holds in my life is a space to unclutter my brain. To put the ideas out there that are banging at the gates on a daily basis. I think this saves the checker at the grocery store from hearing every thought in my head when she makes the mistake of asking how things are. It keeps Brent from having to nod and smile as I tell him about the COOLEST THING I EVER THOUGHT OF! Well sometimes...because he has to listen to all of those thoughts when I am not sitting in front of a computer screen where I can dump them out on you instead.

It's a place for me to pontificate about my political, religious and social beliefs. It's a place to share things that make me happy. Or sad. Or that I find to be interesting. And I feel like the people that read my blog (mostly if not all already friends of mine) know what to expect when they come here. Because they know me. And this is what it's like to be my friend. I talk, a lot. But I also listen, a lot. I want to know why you think the way you do (so I love the comments) and I want to take your ideas and spin them off in to what they made me think about (ME! ME! ME!!).

So though I agree with Mr. Ensign's ideas on how I could make my blog so much better I guess I just don't feel the need to make it better. Or maybe it's that I don't necessarily agree with what better is in this case. I'm not trying to reach a wider audience (though you and I both know I have at times gotten wrapped up in the numbers of who is or isn't reading my work), I'm not trying to sell a product. I'm not promoting myself as an expert in any field. I'm writing. I'm sharing. I'm talking. Not polished, not edited, not perfect. Just Totally Random But....