Why We Write

I had a very interesting conversation with a colleague about why people blog ... why we write ... even more broadly why bloggers share personal thoughts.

He's a lawyer. Those are people trained to only see the down side, the liability, the approaching storm, the imminent danger, the darkness lurking, the "god-damned disaster" heading one's way.

Nothing against lawyers, mind you. They're just so damned careful. They would probably counsel against ... anything that is potentially dangerous. Like driving, eating, ... breathing ... definately against breathing ... surely there's not one human activity that's not perilous, if you let a lawyer think about it long enough.

And god knows, WRITING is. Having an opinion is ... dangerous, dangerous, dangerous.

So maybe we blog to say, "we're alive" knowing we won't always be. And maybe we blog to say, "I've been through this pain and that joy and another boring day JUST LIKE YOU and here's how I dealt with it." Yes, that's why we write.

And we write to tell you funny stories because we know that's the only way to get through this life, to share our stories, to share ourselves.

I love lawyers ... what's not to love?!? So many of my blog readers are lawyers and paralegals. But I just wish they could be a little more alive. Lively like artists who are creative and take chances. Yes, they should take a chance to show us they are alive. But sometimes I fear they are more comfortable dealing in death, I think. Death of the spirit, death of the new idea that might be a little dangerous, death of a deal.