Why I Blog

Many years ago, a boy in my PE class named Cory asked me why I liked the Spice Girls. He wasn't asking out of real curiosity. It was out of a bitter desire to test me, and it's the first existential crisis I really remember having. In that moment, I suddenly realized that this was never a question I had actually asked myself. I struggled to respond. Why did I like the Spice Girls? Was it their platform shoes? Was it the way they refused lovers on the basis of protecting their friendships? Was it the invaluable life lessons I seemed to always learn from them?

I do now, Geri. Thank you.

Did I even really like them at all?

I remember becoming flustered at the question which quickly made me belligerent, and I said something like, "Just...shut up, okay?" 

Many years later, a friend asked me why I enjoyed blogging. She was asking from a place of genuine curiosity, but my mind went into immediate defensive action as though it were Cory and his smug face interrogating me. Why did I blog? Was it for my love of writing? Was it for the attention? Was it in the hopes of having Meryl Streep and Amy Adams star in a movie about me?

For those of you who don't get that reference, it's from the movie Julie & Julia, a film about a woman who dedicates a year of her life to blogging her way through Julia Child's first cookbook. It came out in 2009, which, coincidentally, is actually the very same year that I began my blog. I referenced it in my very first post, titled "Humble Beginnings". Here's a taste:

When a film based on this blog is inevitably produced, I do not want Meryl Streep or Amy Adams to come anywhere near it. Instead, the actress starring as myself would definitely be Cher in full on Half-Breed garb (not because she bares any resemblance to me whatsoever. If that were the case, I would have to go with Josh Groban...in full on Half-Breed garb).

In that first post, I also addressed the purpose of my blog experiment.

The purpose of this blog is to accelerate my stardom so that I can afford a house with a closet big enough to fit all of my Snuggies as well as those belonging to my future husband, the cloned version of Orson Welles (from his "War of the Worlds" days...NOT his Paul Masson declination).

Man, that sentence is so 2009. Back then, my blog was called "An Authority On Being" and it was a bit more sardonic than what I've got going on now. I was definitely playing a character, one who always had all of the answers and wisecracks. I started a new blog because I got tired of writing in that voice. I'm still proud of it though.

Anyway, the reason I offered in that first post is just me using that sarcastic voice. I obviously did not get into blogging for fame or riches. This is largely because, at the time, I couldn't think of a single famous blogger.

So again, why? Why do I do it? Why do I blog?

The reason that I enjoy blogging is the same reason that I like the Spice Girls: I just do, so just shut up, okay?

I don't remember mapping out a grand plan when I started my blog. It just felt absolutely like what I should be doing. On some level, it just made sense for me. I mean, before there was Blogger, there was Livejournal, and I was ALL over that thing. I love to write. I love to engage with people. I think I'm good at both of those things. It's just a good fit.

And by the way, it's alright to like something just because you like it. Spice Girls rule. Viva Forever.

Bloggers, why do you blog?
Non-bloggers, why do you do the thing you do?