HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

Note: I originally wrote this to be posted at one of the blogs where I'm a guest blogger, and I thought that it would be nice to put it up here as well since it deals with opinions.

It may be a strange analogy, but I feel that blogging is similar to gardening in the sense that they both kind of grow when nurtured. And when it comes to gardening, if neglected weeds will grow, and for blogging, when neglected, spam will collect or someone might take over your url. I've seen it happen before.

Anyway, analogies aside, I've been spending some time thinking about the blog and how it has changed over time and how it has changed me.

When I first started on a blog back in April 2005 (it was on a different platform in a networking site) I only had a very vague idea about what a blog was. At that time, I had quite a lot of stories to tell but no one who would listen. So I used to sit down and write all the funny and tragic (in our eyes) incidents that happened to my friends and I in those years. At that point I had only one silent reader (a friend who wasn't in the circle) who would occasionally e-mail me about any of the posts.

Fast forward a few years later, I've stopped narrating stories from the past. Firstly, there's a limit to the misadventures that could occur to a bunch of young people, and secondly, it seems much harder to narrate things from the past, code name everyone with initials to protect their identities that even I forget who is who at times. But who knows, I may always go back in that direction, since there are no proper rules in blogging (and the fact that I will not attempt submitting my blog to ruthless reviewers who will tear apart every single thing - though I must admit, the one and only review I submitted to awhile back didn't have much to complain other than the lack of visuals to work with!) These days I stick to current stories and daily complaints. Ha! Ha!

I find blogging to be therapeutic. It sort of dissipates the feeling of displeasure I have over anything so I don't remain harbouring anger or annoyances (even if I don't blog about the issue at hand) for a long time like I used to in the past. Another thing I noticed (and this may be slightly negative) is that I have become awfully quiet recently, and I think it's because I have talked' so much on the blog. It's like when people ask you how you are, and you just don't want to discuss it because you've already written on your blog, and you can't tell your friends to go and read your blog, so you just say, "I'm good" without further elaboration

It's ridiculous, and when you're quiet, people think you're tired, or sad or something you're not.

So, I figured I'd make this slightly interactive for a change, and therefore ask those of you who read this: How has blogging changed you and your life?

PS: One thing I noticed about blogging is all the interesting people out there who share ideas and stuff and the friendships you make, and once again I can't stress how touched I am by all your kind words of encouragement when I was panicking last week. Thank you so much.