weblog
Ah yes, the good old fashioned weblog. I started out creating web pages for myself and friends around 1996. Very quickly however, I adopted the blog format and used it for almost everything I've created online since.
The first blogs I crafted were very cathartic. Blogging allowed me to get things off my mind, to be creative, and kept the old gray matter active and stimulated.
However, blogging eventually fizzled out and fell by the wayside for me in recent years. It evolved into something that I felt required me to push the bar, trying to top every previous blog post to stay relevant. It simply was not enjoyable after awhile
It stopped flowing, it ceased to feel natural, and was simply not filling my soul or spirit with happiness.
However, something happened a couple of weeks ago that has made me rethink things.
Out of the blue, two of my old blogger acquaintances reached out to me. Mickey yarber from 'Retro Ramblings' and another respected blogger buddy who ran the blog 'San Jose Senorita'.
Mickey wanted to check in to make sure everything was all right, since it had been so long since I had last posted anything at all on this site.
La Señorita reached out to catch up and touch base, because it had been so very long since we had interacted within that old blogging world of ours.
These friends reaching out, got me reminiscing and remembering how great it used to feel to be able to get my thoughts out there. I wondered.. “Why not go back to a simpler, more minimalistic style of blogging?"
I've never ran out of things to say. I simply was not getting any joy out of what my blogging had evolved into. Therefore, I decided to give this old-fangled Weblog thing a whirl.
Blogging has really changed over the years. Social media has largely replaced in depth blogging. Back when this shift started happening, there were hundreds of platforms promoting a new craze called 'microblogging'. Those morphed into many of the modern day platforms like Instagram and Twitter, with many believing this is now blogging.
It used to be so easy to find like-minded people through blogs back in the day. Web users were able to gather digital information on their own terms, without the algorithms skewing their results. I made lots of great connections, and found many online communities and sub-cultures I was openly welcomed to.
I believe this is why Reddit resonates with so many people these days. It's a way to cut through all of the crap and truly get to what you want.
I'm not sure if my blogging will resonate with anyone, but that's really not the pont. This is very much something I think I need, and I believe my mental health will be a little better because of it.
There are rumors and rumblings I am hearing about a slow moving resurgence in personal blogging that has been happening over the last couple years. I hope this is truly the case and more people continue to embrace the old ways.
We will see how it goes and I look forward offloading the thoughts and opinions bouncing around on my head right here.