Why I Blog — Siri Saridar

If you’re reading this, you are probably a blogger, or someone who at least, at some point, has considered becoming one. I know that girl was me, vicariously living through the creations of other women like me, hammering away at their keyboards, photographing anything and everything, finding a corner of the world where they could say what they wanted, when, how, and why they wanted.

But what is it that draws me, your, all of us, to this… admittedly rather bizarre act? This strange compulsion to create a tome to your thoughts, a catalogue preserved for all eternity of your likes and dislikes, what you’ve read, what you’ve listened to, what you’re drank, ate, wore, thought, mulled over.

Blogs are a funny thing when you really step back and look at them.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m as in love, addicted, and dependent as the next girl. I fell in love with blogs back in their early hey day, when I still needed to explain them to people, when they felt rebellious, inexplicable- out there and revolutionary.

I’m glad blogs have become so much more mainstream a decade on (perhaps even too mainstream but that’s another discussion for another day), and I’m glad that I never have to fear running out of a new blog to read or discover, a new voice to get caught up in, a new life to explore and learn from.

But what really makes me wonder is why I’m here, why I’m doing this?

Surely reading and consuming is so much easier than producing.

I have no desire to become blog famous or support myself with my little corner of the universe. I mean, it would be amazing, who would say no to that, but it’s not something I focus on or ever really think about. And I’d be willing to bet thats the case for a lot of us other there.

So why do I blog?

It Gives My Thoughts a Focal Point

I don’t know about you but I used to be that annoying girlfriend (to both my female friends and my husband before we tied the knot), who always wanted to talk about something. Who always had something she wanted to word vomit onto an unsuspecting individual who probably had a bunch of tother things they needed to be doing instead. It can get hard for them to keep up lets be honest!

I need a place to literally spill all my thoughts, I need to be able to voice things to stop thinking about them, and think I do.

A blog is the perfect remedy to that particular malady. A blog is the space that is all mine where I can share which thoughts I fancy sharing, voice thoughts in a way that help me unwrap and understand them, and also in a way, work through them and figure out how I actually, really feel about them. And you know, that’s invaluable.

It Gives Me a Sense of Accomplishment

I’m not the kind of person who needs to accomplish, who is driven by ambition, who wants to feel like I’ve made it, or to gain any small modicum of recognition. I can quite happily plod along with little to no accomplishments to my name and I have, and still feel quite okay about the whole thing to be honest. I’m glad of that, being very ambitious must be absolutely exhausting.

But still. Sometimes, when I do set myself a task, when I do set myself something challenging, and I get it done, the sense of accomplishment at the end of it is pretty exhilarating.

Maybe I sometimes do understand how all those ambitious people feel.

I know having a regular blog like mine isn’t a great big achievement and I don’t pretend mine to be at all, but its enough for me in the life I live, and I’ve come to really love and thrive off it. I don’t really want to give up these little wins of mine, and they drive me to blog consistently and in the best way I can.

It Fulfills My Need to Create

I don’t entirely believe in the sentiment that there are those who are creative and those who are not, but I guess to an extent, there can sometimes be some truth to that.

If it is so, then I’ve always fallen on the creative side. I’ve never been great at school in any sort of hardline academic manner, I’m terrible with numbers and business and all the other bits that go along with it (I did one economics course at university and literally broke down crying in every test and exam), but what I’ve always thrived at, in school and whenever I’ve picked up a hobby, is anything that involves making, creating, building something from nothing.

I’m by no means the most artistic person I know but I’m passable and I enjoy it, in almost all its forms, from the kids crochet I loved as a 7 year old to dancing and choreography, to brief stints in trying out pottery and tons of creative writing. So all in all, having a blog is the best of many creative worlds and I love seeing what I’ve dreamt up come to life in some small way. There’s few other avenues available as readily as a blog to do so, and I’m so grateful these strange and wonderful little worlds exist.

It Keeps Me Informed

I love being up to date on pop culture and social issues, although I’m not the greatest when its comes to hard news, despite the journalism background and degree. And I do genuinely love staying up to date. But it’s a bit of work sometimes. Sometimes its just easier to zone out and watch a Zara or Primark hauls.

Now my blog is very much a personal one, very much a lifestyle blog, so it’s not like I need to be on top of everything every week, but I do find that knowing a bit about the world, keeping on top of things, bolsters my confidence to write about anything really. And being more immersed in the world of social media (I’m looking at you Twitter) keeps you updated whether or not you’re trying.

And you know what, I’m really loving it. I just can’t seem to know enough these days and it excites me!

I Enjoy Being Inspired and Seeking Inspiration

One of the best feelings as a blogger is that sudden hit of inspiration when you’re going about your day and you stumble upon something, something that excites you, upsets you, makes you think and you immediately go, that would make a perfect blog post!

That feeling of excitement is just something I live for now. I never know where, when or how I’m going to get hit by inspiration, and I love it.

I also love seeking inspiration out. Whether that’s through other bloggers work, through magazines, through books, through podcasts or days out with friends, I love exposing myself to the world of inspiration out there- it keeps my mind interested, busy, curious, and you know what, in the long term I’m convinced, even younger and more full of wonder!

Its An Exciting and Evolving Field

No matter what people have to say about the world of blogging, its bubble, its demise, I’m just not seeing it that way. Maybe I’m in in denial, but on the whole it still feels like an exciting and evolving field, and I love thinking that if I keep working on it, I can eventually start to be more and more a part of a still new, exciting field of the future.

You can’t really beat that can you?