Why not just keep a journal? Why decide to write a blog instead?
A Journal Vs. a Blog
Dear Reader,
I think that one of the most useful things about keeping a journal - besides being able to express yourself and feel like someone is listening - is when others read it and gain something from your experiences.
That is why I’ve decided to create a blog instead of merely keeping a journal. I already keep the majority of my journal on Google Docs since I can type faster than I write, but I have decided to also share many of my experiences with you, online reader, so that the things I’ve learned through trial and error can be passed down and not go to waste.
I also think my desire to keep a blog rather than a journal has to do with my need to connect and relate with others. And in the world we live in today--we can connect with others from all over the world. As my Spanish professor, J.P. Spicer used to tell us, “Your generation has more information at the tips of your fingers than any previous generations combined!” So why not share our experiences with others? Why not put our wealth of knowledge on Google so that others might not feel so alone? The Internet is such a useful tool. Sometimes I think we only refer to the ways people misuse it while not giving credit to all the good ways it can spread information and awareness. Sure one of the goals of this blog is to “express myself”, but my biggest goal in starting this blog is to help others benefit from reading about my life’s trials, experiences, and mistakes so that when they’re going through something similar, they don’t feel so alone.
An Example
Imagine that you were diagnosed with Asthma a hundred years ago and needed advice about how to go about living a relatively normal life while managing and dealing with your condition. Your doctor of course has some suggestions and possible treatments, but he has never struggled with your symptoms personally so he doesn’t know how to overcome the pain and inconvenience you experience frequently. And you know that starting this journey on your own is going to be a long process of trial of and error, so you decide to reach out for help. First, you might go to a local library to look up information on Asthma. Or perhaps you might talk to a neighbor, but that wouldn’t be helpful if you don’t have any immediate family or friends struggling with Asthma. Imagine how it might feel overwhelming dealing with this new challenge on your own? Now with the Internet, in one search and a click, you can find thousands and even millions of websites with a plethora of resources and advice about the condition and how to deal with it.
I know I’m not the only one who has felt overwhelmed when encountering an unexpected challenge, so that’s why I want to put my experiences out there.
This idea became really important to me when my life took some very unexpected detours. You could say this year of 2018 was not my year. I felt completely in the dark when I was diagnosed with Celiac disease and even more when I tore my ACL and went on Accutane all in the same month. But navigating through these unexpected detours in my life became bearable when I was able to read online forums and others’ experiences while they were going through the same things.
My Goal of Starting a Blog
My goal is to provide more details and more information about the things I’ve gone through--information that I would have liked to read about when first starting on my journey. And my hope is that the messier parts of my life and the knowledge gained through those times of painstaking trial and error can be of use to someone else going through something similar so they don’t have to fumble around in the dark quite as much as I did.
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