It’s Thanksgiving — time for the obligatory blog post on all the things I’m grateful for this year.
But this time, I want to do something different.
Instead of a laundry list of things I’m thankful for, I want to share why I’m so glad I have blogging in my life.
Through blogging I found my voice. I’ve considered myself a writer since I wrote a really bad poem in second grade for my best friend who was moving away. I’ve been a full-time reporter for a newspaper and seen my byline in national magazines and even USA Today. But it was actually through blogging that I found my voice as a writer and became confident enough to believe that what I had to say mattered.
Through blogging I found my practice. Writing is not just an art; it is a practice. Just as an athlete or musician needs to constantly practice to get better, so do writers. Blogging is my practice field. Through blogging I have a space to work on my craft and since this is a public space I’m also held accountable to working on my craft consistently.
Through blogging I found my tribe. Because of my love for writing and blogging, in 2011 I founded See Jane Write — a membership organization for women who write and blog. When I started See Jane Write I had no idea that the women of this group would become my closest friends, but that’s exactly what happened. We found one another through our interest in blogging, but in the process discovered we shared so much more.
Through blogging I found my platform. I’ve been blogging in some capacity for eight years. In the past my personal blogs have been my space to write about faith, feminism, fitness and so much more. Blogging has also helped me land opportunities to write on these topics for publications like B-Metro and Birmingham magazines and to be a contributor to WBHM 90.3 FM, Birmingham’s NPR station.
Through blogging I found my purpose. Since I was a teenager I’ve known that I wanted to use writing to empower women and girls. But with the ever-changing state of journalism and the publishing industry, I started to wonder what it would look like to actually live out that mission. Blogging is my way. Not only do I seek to uplift women with the stories I put out into the blogosphere, but I give women the knowledge and support they need to share their own stories, too. And I even turned See Jane Write into a business — discovering a way to make profit with purpose.
So why do you love blogging?
Or maybe you have yet to start a blog of your own because you’re not sure where to start. Don’t worry. I’m here to help!