Ready or Not

Months ago, I signed up to create this blog at the Blogger website. I had already read a bit about the different blogging services and talked with a few friends who have blogs, in order to gather some opinions.

After I set up my blog but before posting, I read even more blogging advice and tried to notice what I liked best about my favorite blogs. But I didn't feel ready to define my blog in narrow, specific terms, and I've never been particularly good at the kind of lean concise writing that so many of the best bloggers employ. With so many great blogs already out there and virtually everyone saying they don't have enough time to read as much as they'd like anyway, it was easy to talk myself out of starting.

Perhaps most significant was the fact that I had no good answer to the question, "What will your blog offer that people can't already get elsewhere?"

I did start a Tumblr blog even before I signed up on Blogger and have enjoyed experimenting with it. I tried my hand at a few full length blog posts there early on, but gradually that tumblog (as I understand they are sometimes called) has evolved into a place where I mostly capture photographs I like and quotes I find meaningful, with a few other things sprinkled in. I'm really pleased with what that space has become and enjoy just looking through my little collection of treasures. It feels like a sanctuary to me--quiet, sacred space.

I had no idea when I initiated that project what it would become, but eventually it developed into something I like very much. While I am happy to share my Tumblr with others, I don't mind if it never achieves much of a following or if it's not typical. It is what it is.

Now, after months of perfectionism-fueled procrastination about this blog, I've decided it's time to jump in, ready or not. I'm not sure yet how it will develop, but you don't have to know what your child will be when (s)he grows up to give birth.

So, I don't know yet if I'll blog more about creativity, politics, or just day-to-day experiences and random thoughts. I'm not sure if I'll blog often or infrequently, and I have no idea if anyone will be interested in reading what I've written, but I do know I would like this to be an open and welcoming space, and I look forward to planting some seeds to find out what grows.

For now, the answer to what my blog offers that others don't is, simply: my voice.

Thank you for joining me here. I hope you'll come back again for another visit.