I Figured It Out

In this case, "it" is why people do this blog thing. I've been pondering it and several other significantly more weighty concerns, and this is the only one I've managed to figure out. That's like 1/10. Not great, but much, much better than 0/10.

Anyway, onto "it". Here's the newsflash, folks. People "do the blog" (sounds like a strange, clumsy dance move) because it makes them feel as though they've published something. You type in a little white box, slap a title on your verbal meanderings, and - wa la! - there it is for all to read, in a neat font on a nicely laid-out web page. You're a published author, just like that! Only... it's not really just like that. See, we all know in order to actually be published, you must have a considerable amount of writing skill, a considerably significant idea to communicate, and someone must be willing to put out a considerable amount of money into printing your stuff (not to mention considerable confidence that they'll get their money back and then some!) This stuff, however fun, is not the same thing as being published.

But I can see the charm of it anyway. I actually felt a little thrill when I saw my first post leap outside the little white box onto a terrifically pink website. It looks so important. So official. So worth-reading. So... pink. I'm sure it's a tiny taste of what I might feel if I saw an article I wrote in Time magazine or the Star Tribune. I (believe it or not, folks) actually did have a short article published by a missions periodical last year. And even though it was on the last page, and they edited out what I considered to be all the good parts, I was darn excited about it. This blog kind of reminds me of that.

Well then, I guess I'm joining the ranks of the rest of you pretty-much-unpublished. We think we might be ok at writing, we're fairly confident we have an idea worth sharing, and we're sure as heck nobody's putting any money into us. So here we are.

(Your line: "Welcome to the club, Mindy!")

Thanks.