Blog. Why is this B-word filling me with such anxiety? A 400 word “personal reflection” feels like a piece of cake. A blog post, on the other hand, sounds such a challenge. Rather awful. I must try to understand why, because it does not make sense.
I enjoy writing, it comes natural to me. I generally prefer writing an email compared to making a call. This new reluctance and hesitation is odd. Although English is not my first language it’s not a language thing. My grammar is not perfect, but I know enough to word myself fluently and with ease. English is a lovely language for expressing oneself.
The online sharing and open access is more likely to be part of the grief this task is giving me. What if I misunderstand and write something really stupid? What if I open up too much and become vulnerable? Then it would be out there for anyone to see. The Internet judge. The Internet lives a life of its own. Jam packed with text, pictures, and clips that little suspecting people posted without thinking it through. And now these digital words and pixels live on forever beyond the control of the person who first produced them. Little did they know! But then again, who on earth would find my blog, really? Is a blog post not just a waste of time? There is just no way anything I could produce would make a difference in any way. But this is still not enough to explain my hesitation.
What do I know about blogs? What is my experience? Can I even relate to blogging? The answer is, I have very little experience. I am not part of the “blogosphere”. I have read very few blog posts. Generally, only when I’ve been searching for information and randomly ended up on some blog post. Some were excellent. How on earth could I produce anything as useful and good? Some were awful. Totally uninteresting, shallow, self-centred, and completely lacking content that anyone else could possibly find relevant or interesting. Maybe we are now getting closer to the core of the issue now!?
If I write my blog posts, I might come up with something smart to write about – but then surely one of those clever, talented bloggers are sure to already have covered it long ago. Therefore, I’m more likely to end up at the different end of the spectrum. I have no experience. I might write something that comes across as blunt, boring, and irrelevant as some of those posts I’ve randomly stumbled upon? That would be awful…! Or would it…?
How about using these concerns to my advantage instead? Let’s admit it. I am a visitor1 in the blogosphere. I do not feel I belong here, I do not feel particularly comfortable. But does it matter? Judging from previous experience, it won’t matter. There will be thousands-and-thousands of “worse” blog posts out there! And they have not been withdrawn, hence these people live on without worrying. Maybe they learned or gained something from their blogging, maybe not. But why not try? The potential gain is likely larger than any risk. YOLO! 🙂
Could any novice produce stunning excellence? It takes lots of practice to become good at things. The point is not to produce mind blowing posts about teaching. We are all unique. Our backgrounds. Our experience. The challenges we’ve gong through. The battles we’ve won and those we lost. Therefore, I can contribute with a perspective that no one else can. I can add something to the vast Internet ocean that no one else can. Something that is not yet out there. Because no one else is me.
The most precious commodity we possess is our time. It cannot be replaced! It is a gift is someone to take of their time to read about other people’s issues and thoughts. If the reader gains something positive from it, then the time the author invested was well spent. Even though most of us will only inhabit a tiny, almost negligible corner of the Internet, it could contribute with something positive for someone, somewhere. If I start blogging, that person might even be me.
1 White, D. & Le Cornu, A. (2011) Visitors and residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, 16(9).