| Blogging: the Magic, the Mystery, the Power Part 3 | |||||
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This is the third and final part of the speech I gave at the IWPA meeting on September 27. See the first two parts in the column archives. What are blogs for, and why should you begin one? For one thing, a blog provides a good way to keep in touch with family and friends. People all over the world can keep up with your activities and your thoughts if they care to read your blog. For some families, a blog is a family reunion and a round-robin letter combined. Communication is instant, and it doesn't even require postage. Your family photos, your achievements, the big events in your life can be shared on your blog. Blogs are used by businesses and political candidates and social activists and even (unfortunately) by hate groups and purveyors of pornography. But for an older crowd, they can be life-saving. To quote from Ronni Bennett's blog (see Part I), "Carl Jung described one of the seven tasks of aging as the need to review, reflect upon and sum up one's life. Most elders have a need to tell their story before they die." Jung himself wrote, "I try to see the line which leads through my life into the world, and out of the world again." Anna Quindlen wrote in her Newsweek column, "As the letter fell out of favor and education became professionalized, with its goal less the expansion of the mind than the acquisition of a job, writing began to be seen largely as the purview of writers." Telephone conversation is fleeting. Valuable insights are being lost. I have spent a lot of time urging my fellow seniors to write their life stories; they have valuable experiences and lessons to share, and their children and grandchildren need those lessons and those memories. Remember how many people used to write long, informative letters and keep the letters they received from their loved ones? Today, few of us bother. However, we can now write as frequently as we wish to anyone willing to pay attention via e-mail or blogs. A blogger named Steph wrote to Ronni Bennett, "Having just celebrated my fifth year of blogging, I gathered up all of my archives . . . and burned them to a disc. They will be included in my will, just the same as my other writings . . . ." Whether or not we have any other writings, and I hope that most of us do, a blog can provide an easy, free way to communicate. Frankly, blogging gives me a feeling of accomplishment. I can write whatever I want to, and if anyone cares to read it, it's available immediately. What's more, while my blogs do not qualify as great literature, they are parts of me that I can share and leave behind. Anna Quindlen added, "Bloggers old and young know that we are on the bleeding edge of a renaissance in personal writing. Our blogs will become as important to our current and future loved ones as handwritten letters were to people of another era." Blogs can be about any topic or topics. Some bloggers include recipes, poetry, fiction, tales of children and grandchildren, travel journals, hobbies, even dining experiences. And don't forget that blogs can be interactive. Readers comment, agree, disagree, provide information, and sometimes continue the discussion on their own blogs. If and when the time comes when you are bored, isolated, or physically unable to pursue many activities, blogging can provide a connection to the world. That's what it is for me. If you're too young and busy to worry about such things now, at least you already understand the power of writing. Share these idea with your older relatives and friends. Blogging is for everybody. It's satisfying fun. Take a look at my blogs and others, and happy blogging! |
