Before coming to WA, I never thought about blogging. Frankly, I never understood why people blog. Used to think, who would be interested in reading the personal experiences and impressions of another person? Why should I bother to do that too? Of course, my blogs, to date, are full of shop talk having to do with home design.

I like to read about everything. Some topics take priority over others. Until a short time ago, I was more interested in reading information that was less editorial, with a more left brained, factually based approach. Dry, straight forward, just the facts information was the order of the day. And yet, I have always loved literature, dissolving completely into a story with characters and situations that had nothing to do with my personal life, except for the humanity aspect.  I could relate very well to that. The story made the facts more indelible in my mind. A Farewell to Arms helped me to know WW2 with more intensity than reading a history book. The more humanity that was packed in, the better I liked it. I have always loved to read biographies and autobiographies. Though I especially like autobiographies, because they come directly from the person, the horse's mouth.

A blog is, by nature more personal than an article. Though your articles can certainly be infused with "you", and people will pick up on it and appreciate the individuality of your approach.

Before WA, the "blog" was something foreign to me,  that I attributed only to the Internet. I just didn't understand the purpose for blogs, and seldom read them. Why did people blog online? Why would you ever want to share your innermost thoughts with so large an audience? Would people even read my blog, if I wrote one? I was reticent, not only to share my thoughts, but my picture, and anything else about myself. You see, I'm a very private person by nature. It took a lot of courage for me to put myself out there. You all know what I am talking about.

Even now, I have a resistance to exposing too much of myself online, or anywhere, but especially online. In a way,  I admire people who let it all hang out. For movie stars, privacy is an almost impossible task. I don't know how they do it.

So, if I am so private,  why do I blog? For me, it's a combination of things, selling anything, being the least of it. I have a need to communicate with other people, and friendship means a lot to me.  So I make friends blogging. I also like to help people by sharing ideas. When I say share, I mean give and take. I appreciate it when people respond to something I've written, sharing with me their ideas, thus helping me to grow as well. So far, my experience with comments on my blogs has been good and constructive. Not everyone agrees with me, and they don't have to. I learn more from the people who don't agree with me. At the very least, they give me insight. I love that they take the time to write back.

Blogging about your craft is a perfect way to present yourself accurately, without the editorialization that happens in an interview, or when someone writes about you. You are all familiar with the old telephone game: tell one person, then that person tells another. By the time the message reaches the end and comes back to you, it's a completely different story. So, tell your own story.

People will get to know the real you through your blog. It's a wonderful way to brand yourself too. When people can connect a real person to a product, confidence grows. That's why press agents are in business. You can be your own press agent.

There is a serious topic that is looming large in my life at the moment. I have been debating about whether or not to create a blog for it. Do I really want to open up a can of worms, maybe causing myself grief? It's a controversial topic, though a blog can help many people. What to do...? I don't know yet.

At any rate, will be away from WA for a while, due to big projects underway that require my full attention.

I'll be dropping in at night. And of course, don't want to miss Jay's WAbinars.

See you all shortly. Wishing you inspiration with your IM'ing!

Much success guys!

Joan