Why I am writing...

Many of the people who know of this blog and occasionally read this blog have asked me why I am writing this blog? This will surprise some, but I have always wanted to write. I have been told that I did not like reading or writing when I was a teenager. My mother is a voracious reader, but this did not rub off on me in my teenage years. This is sad but true, I did not actually read a book cover to cover until I was in college. In high school, I was a big fan of the cliff notes, and I did not even read those cover to cover. For book reviews and papers that I had to write, I relied on the summary in the cliff notes to point me in the right direction.

I can actually pin point when I started to enjoy reading. I was "working" at my parent's golf store and I was reading a People magazine. In the book review section was a review of Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell. The book sounded interesting, so I went out and bought a copy. Once I started that book, I could not put it down. It sounds cliche, but it was a new experience for me. I was immersed into the story and the characters came alive in my imagination. I have been reading for pleasure ever since.

I started to like writing in graduate school, which was beneficial. One of the nice things about graduate school is that a majority of the classes that I took were interesting. This fact seemed to make the required reading and writing easier. Every class required extensive writing. I became very good at research and summarizing my thoughts on paper.

I have given the why write question some thought. I have always been intrigued by the idea of a personal journal which is essentially what this is. Handwritten journals or diaries are cool and mysterious to me. I expect them to contain dark secrets and interesting insights into the writer. However, my handwriting is horrible and a diary is not typically shared with anyone. I decided that if I am going to take the time and effort to write, I might as well share my thoughts with my family and friends and anyone else who is bored enough to read my ramblings. That led me to blogging. I can use a keyboard which is a huge benefit to me and the reader. I can also point those whom I want to share my thoughts with to the blog.

Sometimes I find it easier and more efficient to communicate through writing. When writing I am able to organize my thoughts and more effectively express myself. So far, I have written 6 posts, this being number 7, over the course of 6 weeks. These posts have mainly focused on my family and our experiences. I plan to continue writing about my life, my wife, and our children. I like the idea of having my family experiences in writing. I imagine that I will read these posts sometime in the future and be reminded of how fortunate I am.