blogging reflections

Anyone who knows me, knows I am not a fan of blogging or bloggers.  I'm not opposed to the written word, I just don't particularly like having to wade through the thoughts of others.  Or rather the half-formed, misspelled thoughts of others.  I'd rather read something that had a professional editor attached to it, or a review board that would reject the "duds" and only publish the well-formed and well-articulated thoughts of others.  As I write this, I am fully aware of the hypocracy.  I rarely monitor my speech with the controls that I am advocating for bloggers, and I am writing this on a blog site.  I'll add the disclaimer that I am required to blog for my class, but that still leaves me with the problem of speech.  So, perhaps I have more in common with bloggers than I would like to admit.  They just write their thoughts, while I speak mine. 

Today, I was exposed to the idea that blogging could be useful - as a means of professional reflection.  Again, normally this would not appeal to me.  I am hardly a reflective person by nature, but this education program has sort of forced it on me, and well, I have been converted and I see the value in it, even if I still find it very difficult and unnatural (it's like trying to eat with a blindfold and with your opposite hand).  I can see how we, as humans, have lots of thoughts and ideas, and we all carry around our experiences and these serve as a filter through which we learn everything.  As we gain new experiences that inform what we think and by keeping a written record of these thoughts, we can chart our changing selves.  So now, professional blogging seems more like a journal or diary, except that it is 100% public and open for anyone to read.  Instead of writing these ideas down on paper with a pen, we use the computer and type them (which I understand - it is the technology of our day), but I still do not quite understand why we send them out into cyberspace for anyone else to read.  Is it the desire to leave something lasting behind?  The hope that we'll connect with someone else?  The longing to be seen and valued and acknowledged?  That is still the part I don't get.

Blog is no longer a four letter word for me, but I have not entirely embraced it either.