Blog Blueprint

"Instructions for living a life.

Pay attention.

Be astonished.

Tell about it."

--Mary Oliver

Here's the marvelous/dangerous thing about blogging: It's a medium where you can write whatever you want, whenever you want. There are no rules, which means the blogosphere is saturated with pages that can leave the reader (and maybe the author) with a sense of Who gives a crap?! bewilderment. So far, I like blogging but I am shy to tell anyone about it. I am a sensitive and generally private person, so I may be afraid people will read my unsolicited, unfiltered, spontaneous, sometimes personal posts and sigh, Who cares? just as I have done to other blogs.

{Sunday blogging - writing this post}

Recently, in one of those awkward moments where I was searching for something interesting to report about my life to a colleague, I blurted out that I'm starting a blog. Intrigued she asked, "What's it about?" Pause. ".......Um, you know, stuff. Like, things I'm baking, what I'm doing on the weekends, my feelings." I was all over the map. "Who's it for? Who's the audience?" she asked. ".....Um, anyone, I guess. I mean, I haven't really told people about it yet."  :/  She was supportive and genuinely seemed interested in reading it and finally wanted the name of the blog so she could check it out. Eeps! "It's not really ready yet," I panicked. She then nicely asked how I had time to write a blog when I teach at two campuses, etc. Again, no intelligent response came to me so I just fumbled, "Yeah, I know. I don't know..."

Thing is, I want to know how to answer her questions about this blog, but mainly for myself. I need a mission. I want to ask myself her questions just for the sake of having a blogging blueprint. (I am nerdy and I struggle with a need for structure.) Here goes:

:: What's my blog about?
This blog is a journal of my life. It's a space for reflection and for chronicling the bits and pieces of me. It includes personal entries, photos, weekend re-caps, recipes and crafts, and whatever else I feel like writing about. It will be all over the map because my interests are all over the map.

:: Who's my target audience? Who's it for?
If I am lucky enough to attract any readers (beyond my brother and my best friend), I am sure they will be a highly intelligent, well-coiffed bunch. Seriously, I would be stoked if any of my posts opened up a dialogue with anyone. {Blogging is partly about community, so I guess I should start telling people about the blog if I want to open a dialogue.} When it really comes down to it, this space is ultimately a creative outlet for me. If anyone else is interested in what I write, bonus! :)

:: Do I have time?
No. But the not having time seems to provide lots of blogging fodder. Stuff is going on all around me and I want to record it, remember it. I want to document what I am doing, feeling, seeing today so it's there for me to reflect on later. It's my time capsule; assisted memory. Maybe it's my inner ethnographer, but when you create, you slow down, you pay attention, you keep track, you see things differently.

:: Why am I doing this?
See above. Also, I keep coming back to my first post, which reflects that I just want to write. I like the idea of having my writings and photos in one running archive. And, I like to challenge myself. Self-imposed deadlines excite me and while I don't have a lot of time to devote to blogging, I like the idea of forced creativity. Sometimes I'm inspired and sometimes I'm not but regardless, it feels good to keep the creative juices flowing.

In the end, creating something is always good. Nothing bad can come of it. It's fun. Blueprint done.