The Reasons for Blogging

There are all kinds of reasons for blogging. I'm sure that a quick web search on why should I blog would come up with a whole heap of information.

Still, I have had to explain why I write my thoughts online to say many people. Family and friends don't always understand the desire I have to write articles and share photographs. Sometimes, I don't fully understand it either.

I was writing my 'About' section this past weekend and I realised that I just couldn't really explain why I write this blog, or why I felt compelled to start blogging in 2005 (!) through MSN. Over the years, I have had a wide span of blogs, some public, some anonymous. I've dabbled in different subjects and reasons. I have learned a lot about what to put online, what not to put online and how to manage my own expectations when it comes to blogging.

So, yesterday, I sat down and wrote out my reasons for wanting to blog.

Blogging provides an outlet

There are many beneficial purposes to blogging. For me, The Lemon Hive provides a space for me to be creative, to share images, art work and design. It allows me to practice and share my skills, connect with like minded people and write. Writing used to be really important to me and I stopped doing it. Now it provides a cathartic outlet for me to type out my feelings, experiences and document my life.

Staying connected through my blog

I wanted to stay in touch with people, to share information with the people in my life. That is why I first started blogging in 2005. In 2010, things got real! I started to look toward moving to Canada, far away from all the relationships I'd built up over a lifetime. Leaving England meant that I would miss an incredible number of awesome people but that it would be increasingly difficult to keep them all updated on my doings as I acclimatised to a new culture.

When we moved to Ontario, I also wanted a way to stay in touch with my Albertan friends, to keep them informed of where I was in the world and what I was doing. It's the little things that keep relationships strong. I love that my friends and family read this because it means that when we do talk, I get to listen to their stories, we save time and I'm not constantly repeating myself. It makes for much better and improved conversations. Streamlined, ya might say.

Blogging helps my creativity to grow

I used to love writing, drawing, painting and using computers but one day, I just stopped. In 2010, I decided to try being creative again. I started reassessing my skills with technology and started considering my photography as  a real hobby and my desire to learn web design as more than a passing fad. The progress was slow. Finally, I found my rhythm in 2013 and I needed somewhere to share it. It provided a way of documenting all the little things that I do and The Lemon Hive was born from that.

The Lemon Hive helps me to stay positive

I am a pro at hearing other peoples' stories and seeing the positives hidden within them. I am so proud of my friends and family members who achieve goals and great dreams. However, I'm also brilliant at not applying my own advice and being unable to see the silver linings in the dark parts of my own story. I am a mastermind at looking at other peoples' lives and seeing only to how brilliant they are in comparison to my own. Blogging has allowed me to document my life in a way that I had never done before. It holds me accountable. I have to share the positive moments, the accomplishments the battles I have fought and in doing that I create my own record of my life, which is equally vibrant and rich. 

Life is so quick to become a chore, to become tired. Documenting my story allows me the opportunity to rewrite it, to see those chores and daily bores in a different light, and to reminisce about the small things that make life so bloomin' fantastic.

Blogging allows me to document my growth

I already said that blogging allows me to grow creatively, but I failed to mention that The Lemon Hives mere existence means that I compare one year to the next. Every time I post something I am left feeling a little more confident in my ability to be creative. Confidence is key and that key is found, partly, through my ability to share and receive feedback.

It can be difficult to maintain a consistent attitude toward blogging, especially when it can seem embarrassing or awkward to have one. I mean, what's the point of pouring yourself into it?

It can be scary pouring yourself into something because when you do that you risk failing. This is why I find it important that you pour yourself into something with reasons that encourage your growth. That way, even if it doesn't work out you finish it off and you still win!

Why do you keep a blog? What are your reasons?