5 Reasons to Blog

Blogging is a form of expression

I love blogging. It provides an effective way to share your thoughts and ideas with potentially anyone who has access to the internet. Never has there been such an easy and cheap way to send out a message to huge audiences. We also have the option to remain anonymous or disclose as much information as we want about ourselves.

Over the years I have read thousands of different blogs. Some of my favourite ones relating to minimalism are becoming minimalist, the minimalists, and Allison Vesterfelt. In fact, it was these blogs that inspired me to start my own blog. The idea of a blog always appealed to me, but I could not decide on a topic to focus on.

It can be difficult to decide on a topic, but please do not let that prevent you. I believe that many of us can find blogging rewarding. Here are five reasons to blog:

1. Improves your writing skills: every time you write a new post, you are further developing your writing style. Some styles will stick, others may not. Each time you write a blog post, you are improving your writing skills. I believe this is a good life skill to master, especially today where we can communicate our message on the internet. It can also be used to help with your career, writing your own book, or even restoring the lost art of writing a letter to someone.
2. Reinforces your interest: writing regular posts about your chosen topic keeps it fresh in your mind and provides a great way to think of it in new ways. I find that I am thinking of different ways to talk about minimalism to keep the content fresh and interesting. This gets me more interested in minimalism, which leads me to reading more about it. Blogging has also reinforced my minimalist attitude by doing more things in my life that focus on my goals.
3. Encourages more activity: I normally get a sense of accomplishment when I write a new post. Writing a blog post is an activity in itself; I have to think about what exactly I want to write, how I am going to write it, how I can further refine it, and which picture I should select. When I finally post it on my blog, I gain momentum in wanting to do more activities in the day. I am not saying that always doing more is better, but if I have more things I want to accomplish, this is a great way to start.
4. Communicate with others: one of the best reasons to blog is to get others engaged in what you are saying. There will be people who will find your message interesting. There is also the possibility that your message will deeply resonate with some people, and may also influence or change their way of thinking. Allowing people to comment on your blog is a great way to get feedback and also to interact with people who read your blog.
5. Become more confident: blogging provides a great platform to express your ideas in a relatively safe environment. When you see that others are starting to like your posts and follow your blog, you begin to place more value on your own abilities and views. You get more confident in having open discussions on points you made. This confidence has the potential to be used in other areas of life.

Take a bit of time to decide on something to write about. Once you figure it out, get blogging!

Image Credit: Toshiyuki IMAI