Blogging and Self Reflection

I remember when I didn't have a computer and had to resort to my diary for self reflection. Granted, I was a pre-teen at the time so there wasn't much self reflection going on. The pages consisted mostly of silly girl stuff and the occasional boy.

I started keeping a small journal on my computer and storing the entries on floppy disks. You remember what those are right? It's amazing that was only 12 years ago.

Today's generations, including mine, are used to putting themselves out there and it's happening more and more. Facebook, Myspace, Friendster, Twitter and other social networking applications make it easy to stay connected with people we may or may not have ever met.

My blog is just another way. I gained readers with similar interests and for some reason they come back to read what I write. I'm still amazed by that. When I blog I feel the need to show my readers who I am. The real me, the person I believe I am. To put myself out there takes looking inward.

I find that many of my posts are self reflective. I seem to understand myself better after I've written the words down. Because blogging is somewhat the norm today, I would guess that more people understand themselves better than maybe our parents understood themselves at this age.

Being a 20something adult, it's nice to have a support base of others who are going through a lot of the same issues. You never feel alone in the blogging world. You can almost always find someone who understands your situation. And in not feeling alone, it's easier to put the real you out into the vast world of the Internet.

People join support groups for much of the same reason that others blog. Blogging can be done at any time and virtually anywhere. There are no guidelines or restrictions of what you can put out there. Of course there is always the chance that one reader will make you feel worse about your situation than you did before you hit that publish button, I've found that it's few and far between. It seems like an unwritten code between bloggers that if you don't like what you are reading, no one is forcing you to do so. You can hit that little red X at the top of the browser.

Feeling accepted isn't a new concept. Our parents felt it. Our grandparents felt it and so on. The Internet and technology just make it easier to find a group of people who understand and accept you for the person you are.