Blogging Is Not Publishing It’s Therapy
I keep a NOTES.txt document as a catch-all for any ideas I jot down that don’t have an immediate place elsewhere. It is a digital container that is at least 15 years old at this point. I’ve carried it from machine to machine. Every now and then I go back through it to see if anything tugs at me. It’s a bit like panning for gold.
Yesterday, I found this bit, which was added sometime in 2010. I’ll paste it below exactly as I entered it — no edits — except for bolding the parts I appreciated most.
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Blogging is dead?
what is the meaningful difference btw blogging and publishing?
all the details that distinguish a blog are pretty meaningless
but we’re still onboarding to this experience of being able to express ourselves without any restriction (any time, any way)
the more people are connected to the internet, the more they have access to these tools, and so if they have language, any at all, they have a voice
and that’s an old idea — the internet giving a voice to the unheard
and yet, not everyone has been heard
we’re still getting used to that as a culture
if I tap into that thought, I can still connect with the awe and excitement of publishing on the web
there’s an incredible freedom to it
I can share the part of me that is afraid of dying, the part of me that is ashamed by my own thoughts, jealous of someone else’s success, that loathes my self, that is afraid of being misunderstood; all of the fears and anxieties and little things that twist around in your gut; that if you’re sensitive and smart and insightful enough, you’re managing to deal with; you can exercise these in a different way.
blogging is not just publishing for the person, it’s therapy
it’s a powerful act to sit and write what’s on your mind — to sort through those thoughts and shape them in a way that makes them readable and understandable to someone else
there’s a gap btw stream of consciousness of twitter and the written word developed
it doesn’t have to be an essay, but just a little bit of development is a discipline that forces you to process those thoughts just as you might in therapy or by way of regular meditation