Long Burn

Why blog?

Why do I blog?

Dave Ploeg has raised the eternal question-- to blog or not to blog? Herewith my reasons:

1. A good friend of mine was going though a hard period and would spend time meditating, and one trick that apparently worked really well for him, allowing the journey inward to begin, was to think about his eyebrow. (Another fun meditation tip of his is to imagine you are breathing through your eyes with your eyelids closed.) I could only think that with all of these hard things happening left and right, how his eyebrows must be the one reference point keeping the whole package tied in a bundle. No eyebrows and puff! Stark raving madman. What I'm trying to say is that my blog is like an eyebrow.

2. I'm still mad at one of my older sisters for messing with my mind at my eighth birthday party so I got angry and frustrated and was embarassed in front of all my friends. What I'm saying is that writing is therapeutic, and that it turns out to be rather simple to write things you never thought you could say.

3. My work requires concentration and I can keep that up for a while, and then I need to look at pictures of clouds or read stories about 63 year old Episcopalian widows going over waterfalls in barrels. Then, after a breath of air, I am ready to go back in. Reminds me of a lady who worked in the chemical stockroom at Caltech. We'd go there to get things like rubber bands, methanol and Erlinmeyer flasks, and we were very determined. One day she said to me and a German postdoc, 'Guys! Come up for air!'

4. Every once in a while there is a moment of clarity, and in composing things I get to walk to places I wouldn't otherwise reach, and search memories that would otherwise dry out or fester. And the process of blogging involves other people, so it is inherently interesting and rewarding. (And thanks to F for those last two ideas!)

posted by Matt_J @ 9:20 PM