Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Day 1: Why?

This blog is initially intended to be short-term, in response to the AOM 31-day journaling challenge released today, January 1, 2014. Link: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/01/01/jumpstart-your-journaling-a-31-day-challenge/

Today's prompt:
Start with answering the question of why you want to journal, and beyond that, why you decided to embark on this 31-day experience. Write out what you’d like to get from journaling.
I have for a long time thought journaling would be a good thing to do. It's a way to remember great stories, to explore my thoughts, and to learn about myself in teh process. I've often found that I think through writing, and that while writing I come across ideas I didn't know I had, or that I in fact did not have but discover in the moment. It's incredible how that works; get me started and I'lll come up with all kinds of crazy things.

I'm participating in the 31 day challenge for pretty much the exact reasons proposed in the post. I've been meaning to but always had a very difficult time finding somthing to write about. So having a prompt will be very helpful, and having a framework within which to work and a specific goal to accomplish will keep me on track, I hope.

I've always enjoyed writing, and more than that, I've enjoyed it when people read what I write. I believe myself to be a relatively well-spoken and well-written individual, and at the risk of egotism, I think I can write entertainingly and engagingly when I have a reason. I do have some evidence to support this supposition in the form of compliments, but of course that's only anecdotal evidence. The real experiment would be to write a book and see if it sells. Perhaps journaling would be a good way to begin whetting my appetite for a longer-term engagement with writing. Maybe one of these days people will want to read what I write. That's the hope, I suppose.

I also see this challenge, with its specific prompts and timeline, as a very low risk entry point into blogging/journaling. I'll be releasing it daily to the world, but if no one reads it, oh well. I haven't wasted anything, lost anything, or failed at anything; this is primarily for me, and since I'm answering a given prompt, I feel somewhat less responsible for the content, if that makes any sense. Of course it's still my content, and I do feel responsible for its quality, but I'm not deciding what to write about, so there's less pressure to make sure it's really something worth writing about, etc.

At any rate, bear with me. I'll try to provide something worth reading.

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