I won't lie: running the cantina is a gargantuan amount of work, and there are times when I think I should scale it back and focus on my fiction instead. That's still the most important thing in my life. And I had little enough time for things like friends, family and fun before - I have far less now.
But after nearly a year of doing this, I've discovered too many reasons to keep going full speed ahead.
First and foremost, there's you. Yes, you. Maybe I'm partial, but I believe I have some of the best commenters in the blogosphere. Your input and insights keep me going through the hard times. Your passion for issues and your willingness to hold substantive discussions have restored my faith in my fellow humans - something that was desperately lacking before I met you. And I can always rely on you for answers to thorny questions, encouragement on my crazy projects, and reality checks that never bounce. You make this worthwhile.
Another thing that delights me is when we have folks jump in to the conversation who see the world in a completely different way. We've had the occasional rare troll who's just around to try to piss in everyone's Wheaties (which is a whole other realm of fun). But most of the people here who don't share the same views manage a dialogue rather than diatribe. I love watching that happen. It proves we don't have to agree on every thing, or even most things, to have a good talk.
My wonderful readers are the main reason I keep doing this. But there's plenty more to love. It gives me an excuse to keep up on the political news of the day, which in turn makes me a better citizen. I've never felt more engaged in my country, and the world. I would punk off my political reading if it wasn't for the fact I know I have to feed this blog. And the thing I've discovered about democracy is, it goes a lot better when the citizens not only have a say, but are informed enough to speak well.
Politics is also rather endlessly fun. I didn't expect that at all.
I enjoy coming up with creative little things, finding a narrative thread to string a post on, mixing pictures and music to enhance a theme. I've actually found it a little more difficult to write prose lately because of that - I keep wanting to insert hyperlinks, YouTube videos and LOL pics, especially when I'm writing non-fiction.
We could be here all weekend with my raving about all my favorite things. I'll bring this to a merciful end, and turn the floor over to you. What's your favorite thing about writing or reading blogs?
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My favorite thing about writing blogs is sharing information. I love learning and sharing ideas, and the blogosphere allows for that in a very new way from classrooms and even message boards. It's (usually) wonderful.
My favorite thing about reading blogs is finding undiscovered treasures not only of information, but art, music, theater, everything. I always check out Blogger's daily "Blogs of Note," and there has been more than one occasion I've found a blog that's worth returning to time and time again. And these are blogs I never would've discovered otherwise.
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