I've been thinking about this blog a lot lately. Mostly because I haven't updated it in like forever and I was beginning to feel guilty. There was a reason that I started it and I cannot neglect that reason anymore.
When we first moved to Utah I was flipping through some back issues of The Ensign which is a magazine that The Church puts out monthly. It is full of amazing, faith promoting stories and articles on any topic you could think of. There are inspiring message from our leaders and great tips on how to live a better life. As I was browsing through the Oct 2009 volume, I came across an article called Finding and Sharing the Gospel Online. Read it here. the article focused on various ways that we an share our testimonies online, but it seemed to have a specific focus on blogging. After reading it, I got to thinking about why I started this blog specifically and I haven't been able to push away the nagging feeling that I'm not doing my job. I was given specific inspiration from the Lord and I can't put that aside. I highly recommend reading the article.
So I've been thinking about this all summer in one way or the other. I thought about how much effort I put into my blogging and how much work other's put into the blogs that I follow. I thought about what an amazing gift it is and how it is/can/should be utilized. I even had imaginary conversations in my head about what I would say if someone was asking me about it or I was teaching a class about it. Then i was at church two weeks ago and I saw that our monthly enrichment class was going to be about blogging. Opportunity???? So I went to the enrichment leader who is my visiting teacher and I said that if she needed any help, I'm here. She said she had someone lined up to teach but she would pass my name along. Well, the other sister contacted me and said that she is actually more proficient with the technical aspect but not as much with the practical applications. (that what she says, but really, she's pretty awesome and awesomely modest about her abilities). So she asked me if I would cover the 'why we blog' side of the presentation. I thought, how fun is that and totally perfect because I'm an invalid at the technical side.
In thinking about the question a lot over the last 10 days I realized that I know my reasons, but I wanted to find out the reasons that other people blog. So I contacted a few of by favorite blogs that I follow and I asked them. Dana and Char were super gracious enough to send me there thoughts and they were such beautiful ideas. They spoke about community and how it feels to make friends from all over the world. I thought it was really neat.
Now I had to ask myself why I blog. I have two of them, both with very different purposes. I have my blog that is focused more on my family and what goes on in the everyday life of the Mitchell's. Kind of a journal/travelogue if you will. I post about what my kids are up to, the fun crafts we do, challenges of everyday life. The main reason for all of this has more to do with my location in regards to the rest of my family. It's nice to know that I can post about what's going on and pretty much immediately my grandma in Portland can read what we've been up to and see recent pics of the kiddos. And now that we've moved away from friends in Colorado, the same goes for them.
So why do I post on this blog as well? I feel that this is a way to truly share my testimony in new way other. I've always felt that i could share my testimony through vocalizing it, answering people's questions, being an example and yes, even dancing. I feel like I can synthesize all of these into one. I can share my testimony by writing it. I can answer questions from people who comment on the blog. I can be an example through the topics that I choose to write about. And I can learn exactly how dance influences my testimony and the other way around. I hope that it will become a forum where I can I share some deep feelings and grow from what I write and think about. I also hope to learn, develop and share a new talent. I have always been attracted to writing and communicating, but I've never felt particularly good at it. Maybe those skills will improve.
So there you go, that is why I blog. Why do you?
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing their seminal work Revelations. In my opinion, this peice is the most powerful yet graceful example of the spiritual aspect of dance. It is the most inspiring yet genuine examples of what it means to testify to the audience.
