When you get to the basics of it, a blog is basically a public journal – depending on the subject matter and the author, it can be literally as mundane as a persons day to day life, to something as deep and serious as ones physical and mental health, to anything (and I mean anything) in between.
In some cases, people might do this “for the fun” of it, like blogging about old games or old TV shows. Other times, they might discuss more serious topics they are passionate about. It may still be done for the sake of it, or it may be a more professional endeavor, but regardless, people write about what they care about. Why would it be any different?
Naturally, most of the time I too try to talk about what I like, and generally be positive. I enjoy sharing whatever strange geeky thing I find online, or something I’ve always enjoyed, or just my thoughts on whatever I find worth sharing. I’m honest about what I think, for both things I like, and things I’m not quite a fan of.
People often accuse me of being negative, and that’s really not the case – I just happen to disagree with what may be a common opinion, and I’m not going to hide what I think. This can create conflicts at times, but if that is to be, then, well, so be it. It’s not my fault people can’t handle what I have to say.
That being said, yeah, I’ll sometimes write about something (or someone) I don’t like. Especially if this is something the social sphere, en masse, won’t shut up about. The question most would ask is, if I don’t like this topic, why would I write about it?
Because, it’s therapeutic to get my opinion out there. As simple as that. It’s an amazing stress relief to have an area you control to just vent.
Holding in something isn’t healthy. Being annoyed by constantly seeing things you wish not to care about, in relatively inescapable means (really, why should I have to not do my normal internet browsing because my opinion differs from yours) isn’t a good thing, and getting a thought out there, no matter what it is, that may help a person feel better, knowing their counterpoints are there to be read by whomever might find the content, helps massively with the mild, but constant stresses that can come from the nature of, well, being online.
Writing about personal experiences, opinions, etc, is generally well accepted to be helpful to people. Regardless of the cause, if someone feels a need to express themselves on a given topic, they should be able to comfortably. A personal blog of most any type can be… no, is… a wonderful way to express oneself and also feel in control of the situation, since running your own blog generally gives you complete control over not only comments, but you can also edit and refine your thoughts with much greater granularity than, let’s say, a YouTube video would allow once published, not ignoring the other benefits of blogging.
To make a long article short, blogging about some subjects can be incredibly therapeutic for me, allowing me to provide a counterpoint to whatever I may find in my day to day digital life that I just need to address. Rather than hold in an opinion because *gasp* someone might not like it, I’ll go on and say my piece and move on to something I do enjoy.
Of course, people may for whatever reason disregard a more serious article due to me having written less serious ones in the past, but that, to me, is an intentional way to “miss the point” and avoid the subject at hand all together. Quite the weak diversionary tactic, in all honesty.
That really sums it up, I think. That being said, a simple internet search for “blogging therapy” brings up other posts carrying the same general message, give or take.
I may have more to say on this in the near future, but for now, well, at least I’ve gotten the basic idea off my chest.
More to come, as always.