So, here's the thing: of late, I've wavering back and forth on whether to return to writing on my personal site. I can think of all kinds of reasons not to - what I'm wondering is if anyone can think of good reasons to. Or, you can convince me that I'm right to stay away - I'm all about being open, here. I'd just like to break the cyclical thought process with some objectivity.

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001

Answers

Over time I've come to the conclusion that we all take this too seriously. You don't have to commit to writing every day, or even consistently. You could keep a journal for a month and see how it feels. You could quit if you hate it.

Probably it just comes down to this: write if you have the itch, stop if the itch goes away. And pass along the URL if you do start writing.

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

Out of curiousity, what do you on-line diarists/journallers "get" out of this? Is it more than that nice, kind-of-exhausted feeling when you write down an emotion or experience? How do some of your motivations differ from others? I've questioned my motivation to read these 30 some odd sites I've got bookmarked (it comes down to being -very- bored at work, and liking to read), but I've often wondered what the other side of the coin would be like...

Just curious-

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

Okay ... humor on here ...

Good reasons for Gabby to write: Two Beths will read and most likely enjoy.

And with all due seriousness ... why not Gabby? I stopped paying attention to whether or not anyone was reading, eons ago. I write 'cos I get the urge, baby. Core dump. Blat onto the page/screen, and then revisit later to see what I was thinking.

It's also the best way I know of to keep my friends up to date without having to write a gajillion emails.

So I kill three birds with one stone: personal satisfaction for having written something, whether it sucks or not, a record of where I was and what I was doing, roughly by month given my current updating that I can refer back to when Sabs and I turn to each other blankly and say 'what -did- we do that weekend?' and finally, keeping others up to date on my movements.

I think there's also, at this point, an element of habit, in my continued writing. I wax and wane in quantity with the phases of the year, but the idea of stopping altogether just doesn't cross my mind anymore.

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001