A Blogger’s Manifesto

So, last week I promised to write a post about my philosophy on blogging and a compilation post on responses I got to my post on men. Awesomely, that second one is totally not going to happen. At least not this week. I’ve got some searing-hot irons in the fire, so to speak, which need my attention.

I really hope to get a post up with some very excellent corrections to my thinking on men at some point in August, but as far as my philosophy on blogging goes, here’s all you need to know:

I blog because if I don’t I go insane. I blog because I’ve made friends in Blogistan, and we keep in touch via each other’s comment boxes. I blog because there are things I think about and I wonder if you think about them too, and if my thinking is right or wrong. I blog because so many of you have given me much to consider, and I love hearing your opinions. I blog because writing, for me, is a conduit to learning, and I want to learn. I want to learn how to live well and love others correctly. I blog because, as a mother of three young children, sometimes I find myself thinking that I’m nothing more than slave labor to dirty diapers and sticky fingers. Writing helps me remember that I am a whole, complete person who is actually able to speak coherently (ah, sometimes) about subjects of which my children know naught.

Those are the good, maybe even noble reasons behind my writing. Here are the not-so-pretty ones.

I blog because I love comments, and I like to hear that I’m right. It ain’t pretty, but it’s real. I blog because there is an ugly little part of me that’s still in high school and still really wants to be the most popular girl in school (which I most emphatically was not), and when I have an uptick in my stats or new followers, my vanity is gratified.

The above are, actually, reasons why I should stop writing. But I find myself between a rock and a hard place, because I feel like I’ve learned so much in the past year and come so far, and that to stop now would be to throw the baby out with the bathwater. So I keep writing and try to root out my vanity, and I appreciate it (even while seething) when you, my honest readers, point out my disingenuity.

Here is what my writing is not:

Seriously, guys. I’m just another stay-at-home mom who would rather be blogging than doing laundry. My blog is not a platform from which to spout the infinite wisdom I’ve achieved in my 27 long years. I hope to learn enough through blogging to be able to construct arguments that don’t unravel in the wind, but for now, this is very much a learning process. My arguments are not airtight, watertight, or even flock of seagulls tight. It doesn’t take much around here to point out errors and engage in a combox conversation, so let’s just leave the ad hominem attacks at the door, okay?

Finally, my comment policy is as follows: I let almost everything stand. Short of you coming in here and typing blasphemy in the comment box, there isn’t much that will get you either banned or your comment deleted. I do this primarily because I have come to realize that no place on earth shows people’s true colors quite like the comment box. It’s an ugly place much of the time, but it can be beautiful too. Either way, I like my other readers to be able judge for themselves when there is a comment box skirmish.

So that’s all you need to know about me as blogger. What about you? Why do you blog?