The Why Behind My Blogging

I have been blogging since 2003. My first foray into blogging was in the form of silly posts I made on the defunct ancient social media website Myspace. I had not heard of term blog, blogging, or blogger. Yet, I started to actively blog all the same.

I discovered two things during those days: 1 – I enjoyed sitting down and giving life to my internalized monologue via digital publishing, and 2 – I enjoyed the feedback from people reading my words and sharing their thoughts on said words.

At that time, my writing was shit, my world view was shit, and I was a barely-graduated-out-of-high-school-think-I-know-everything-ready-to-share-my-obviously-valuable-opinions-with-the-world young little shit.

You get the point.

There was no intentionality, strategy, or agenda on the table. I just enjoyed myself while writing liked to see what my friends thought of my silly ass words, and did the whole rinse & repeat thang.

Once Myspace was usurped from the millions of people online by Facebook, I stopped blogging but continued to write in many physical journals. At times, I would settle upon a routine and write daily. Other times, my consistency dipped as I adjusted to being a full-time student and working full time.

It wasn’t until 2011 that I began to blog utilizing a true blogging platform and really be intentional and strategic with my efforts. This was when I started my Martial Arts Blog. As a means to compliment the content marketing efforts I was executing for the martial arts academy I train at after designing their website.

I really got into it. I started to get some attention from the community and even had the opportunity to write for an international magazine. Then I became too obsessive with strategy. Not being able to see the forest from the trees, I eventually burnt myself out and lost consistency. Now, I blog there when and if I feel like sharing something.

Anyway…

Why do I write? Why do I blog?

If I am being honest, I write for me. It is an expression of creativity. It is a method of catharsis. It is an opportunity to clarify my inner monologue. And, it is a place to make sense of the world.

There are only a handful of other activities that give me a sense of mental clarity and peace that writing gives me. Jiu Jitsu is one of those other ones. As is gardening. Oh, yeah and carpentry.

So how does blogging fit into my life and what does this mean for people that choose to read this blog?

The natural consequence of my reason behind my writing is that I do not write for you. This may come off as aggressive, but consider that I am simultaneously also not writing for anyone else either.

I write for an audience of one – me.

Yet, that doesn’t quite mean that I am not also creating extrinsic value for anyone that visits my blog. I am a conscientious person by nature and it is innate for me to want to be of service to others. So, as I find things that are interesting, or come across a pro tip, or a life hack, third parties will benefit as well.

We all win. Everybody eats.

It is when we are truest to ourselves that we can really live out our life’s purpose.

Don’t get it twisted though, I make no claim that my writing is exceptional (or even worthwhile). The only thing I’ve really got going for myself is my eclectic perverse sophomoric sense of humor.

The very public nature of writing is an interesting endeavor when you are an introvert.

Random Aside: I find it fascinating that it is now trendy to be an introvert. When and why the hell did this happen? It seems like now everyone wants to be an introvert and pseudo-intellectual. So much so that people have created a new term, ambivert, as a means to compromise on what it actually means to be an introvert. Newsflash Kaden – Going to cochella for a weekend and then being tired of interacting with people doesn’t make you an introvert. It just means you went to an absurdly obnoxious music festival, binged on terrible food, blew your ear drums out, and drugged your brain to oblivion for three straight days. You’re still a basic bitch.

This public aspect is a curious part of the blogging journey. Writing publicly requires me to be nuanced in my communication, be self-disciplined, practice temperance, and practice gratitude.

I believe those self-enforced metrics have helped me become a better communicator online, offline, professionally, and personally; it’s also increased my critical thinking capacities.

So, this is why I blog.