Ramblings of a rambler

I came up with the title of my blog (Ramblings of an interested party) after Wifey read the first couple of posts and mentioned that I basically just ramble a lot. I decided to own that and put it in the title (a big improvement on my first title, "Catchy title that makes me sound really insightful", or something like that). This particular post will be even more rambling than usual!

I was thinking earlier on some of the reasons why I'm blogging. It has kind of lost its novelty at this point (to be expected), but I am definitely committed to keeping at it. One reason is that I find it rather therapeutic. I've never been much of a writer. I hate writing papers, my diary had two entries in it growing up, and I never moved forward with the idea I had once in college for a Young Adult series. But this experience of blogging has been rather enjoyable, I'm not quite sure why.

I have had to curtail my expectations of other's enjoyment of the blog. Part of me yearns to be regarded as some sort of sage, to be lauded for my intelligence and keen insights. That's not going to happen. I don't have the discipline to become one of those full-time bloggers or people who turn their blog into a book. And that's fine! In the end, I blog for me. As long as I'm blogging for my own benefit, it won't be a disappointment when I don't get readers or a post sucks (a few of them have).

The biggest benefit I'm getting is engaging my mind. When I was growing up I read like crazy. My mom had to force me to go play outside because I was inside reading too much. Sometimes I would just take a book outside and go sit in a tree to read. As I've gotten older I find that I don't take the time to read as much. One of the reasons is probably the internet. Now that I can read endlessly on various interests I don't take the time to discover new interests and new worlds in fiction. That's a shame really. Writing has forced me to actually think about things instead of just looking for entertainment or information.

One thing I have to keep an eye on is my amount of negativity. It is so easy to always tear down without building up. It is certainly my tendency to point out problems more than offering solutions. I do believe that pointing out problems is good and necessary, but I don't want it to become a crutch to take the place of solution-based critical thinking.

So far I'm quite happy with this experience. Next on the list of learning to blog is going to be blogging about topics I thought of days or weeks before. My M.O. has been to blog about whatever is currently on my mind, hence why some posts (like this one) are a little more out there and unfocused. Topic ideas are certainly welcome if there's something you'd like to hear my thoughts on. Time to tackle some interesting subjects!