Monday's Meme-ish Musings

Having been tagged for a meme a while back by L.L. Barkat, I thought I’d tackle it today.Although I don’t always jump at memes, I thought this might produce an interesting post. Maybe. She invented this particular meme, and that seems more “real” than the ones that get passed and passed around until they aren’t really “fresh” anymore.So here are L.L. Barkat’s rules for 5 Ways Blogging Changed My Life (I like her rules because they are sort of un-rule-y):

Here are the rules:1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.2. link back to the person who tagged you3. link back to this parent post (I’m not so much interested in generating links, but rather in tracking the meme so I can perhaps do a summary post later on that looks at patterns and interesting discoveries.)4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them

So. Why not?

5 Ways Blogging Changed My Life

1. Blogging introduced me to super cool people. L.L. herself is a great example of one major way blogging has changed my life–connecting with people in new, fun, unexpected ways. I wrote about the uncanny connections I made at the Festival of Faith and Writing. There I met several people I had previously only seen on the blogosphere–people I had followed on their blogs and admired for their intellect, creativity, wit, humor, insight, godliness, or other amazing qualities. I got to meet some of them at the event in person–some quite unexpectedly.

   Also, I love “meeting” people in the comments. You people are so smart. Clever. Open. Honest. Poetic. Encouraging. I never know what kind of comments will pop up, but I love every one of them. They make my day. I only wish I could keep up with commenting on the comments better!

2. Blogging has provided a satisfying creative outlet. The blog has given me a way to play with ideas and words as I explore things I’ve been thinking about from Scripture I’ve studied, books I’ve read, or articles that piqued my interest. I can also experiment with my writing and get some good daily practice selecting specific nouns and strong verbs, just like I learned in Creative Writing 101.
3. Blogging–other bloggers, that is–offers endless inspiration. I’m inspired by how others keep their blogs fresh and fun as well as those who maintain a level of honesty and openness that ministers to people deeply. They write a series, perhaps, or insert poetry. They might make theirs more like a women’s magazine with helpful articles or lean on it as a diary. So when I see what’s possible with photography and art and linkage and podcasts and such, I find myself inspired to try new things…someday I’ll surprise you with something other than a stream of nouns and verbs. Just wait. You’ll see. One of these days, I’ll stretch my creativity way outside my comfort zone.
4. Blogging has changed the way I read offline. Now I read things wondering if I can share some helpful tidbit with readers. I like to be helpful, and this has expanded that in ways I never would have imagined ten years ago. So when I read a magazine and tear out an interesting piece, I’m usually wondering if it would be helpful in some way to blog-readers. So you see? You’re on my mind, even while I’m flipping through Newsweek.
5. Blogging has replaced other hobbies. What did I do before blogging? How did I spend my free time? I guess I watched some TV. Now I blog.
6. Not blogging makes me…sad, I guess. Blogging has affected me so much that I hate it when I miss several days or have nothing valuable to offer and choose not to post. Maybe I’m not exactly sad, but I do hanker to get back to it after a break.   

Five–no, six–ways blogging has changed my life. No real earth-shatterers on that list, but it’s a peek into the current spot on the timeline of my personal blogging evolution.

Feel free to pick up on the meme if it interests you–after all, I’m sure that we’ve all been changed by blogging in some way.