Resolution: Blog More in 2009

I started Grasshopper’s Journey as an experiment. I’ve always loved to write. I’ve always felt that thoughts and feelings not recorded are soon forgotten or distorted in memory, and that leaves us wandering through life on auto-pilot, unaware and less human, somehow.

I’ve kept a personal journal throughout most of my life, although at various times have let months go by without writing in it. Those are usually times when I’m busy and not taking enough time to reflect on my life. I thought that a blog might encourage me to write more regularly.

But the blog has been a double-edged sword. Although my readership is small, just the idea that “someone” might read it disciplines me to write more polished pieces. This is a good thing. On the other hand, writing for an audience, even a small one, somehow restrains me from really opening up in the same way I would do in a personal journal. I hesitate to write about anything that would seem petty or boring or trite to someone else. I avoid writing about other people, for fear of offending someone. I shy away from specifics or controversial topics to preserve my anonymity. So what does that leave me to write about?

Last year I made a resolution to blog more frequently and make shorter, more diary-like entries. That didn’t happen, for the reasons noted above. But I’m going to try again, this time jotting down thoughts as they occur to me and come up with a short piece every week. More personal, more specific. Stay tuned.