6 reasons why blogging sucks (and writing in general)

6. You never know if your substance is appropriate.

There are so many facts about my personal life that I’m tentative to reveal here. My last name? Where I live? What school I’m going to? Names of my friends? Romantic details? These are all sensitive topics; I’m previewing what kind of backlash I might get every time I write a This Kid I Know.

Just so that everyone knows, I only write those personal shout-outs by request, because some people are more comfortable than others about being the subject of a blog post. :)

Some details, obviously, can help contextualize my posts, but there’s a fine line to tread between providing context and opening myself to awkward security issues.

5. My writing can be used against me.

If I’m ever in court being tried for murder, I can bet you that lawyers will pull emotional evidence or use that one time I joked about robbing a bank against me as motive.

This whole blog concept could backfire and blow up in my face.

Who knows who I’ve prematurely alienated because I am so explicit about my opinions and beliefs here?

I’ve sort of pre-empted that by structuring my blog around the concept of being never stationary, so what I do in ten years can’t be as easily connected to what I wrote on here in 2014. SO HA.

4. Writers’ block is a real, awful thing.

Writers’ block, combined with my readers expecting me to not be all over the place puts considerable restrictions and pressures on how often and what kind of content that I can post.

Whenever my blog starts looking barren, I feel awful inside. I might start 15 new writing projects but abandon them all when they start to feel like dead-end ideas.

3. It makes you realize what you don’t want to realize.

You can write and write for ten hours straight until you’ve analyzed and picked apart every facet of an issue, but it doesn’t lessen the pain of anything or help you get over hardships. It kind of just clearly defines the issue at hand. Sometimes, writing doesn’t help at all, because understanding does not equate to alleviation.

2. You speculate too much.

Try to draw a deeper meaning from everything means seeing a man chew a bagel with his mouth wide open and interpreting that as a sign that his horrible table manners spawn from his mom’s death when he was young, his dad never re-marrying or being there for him.

NO.

He just can’t chew a bagel correctly, Catherine!

Over-speculation ruins the game and its enjoyability. Sometimes when you apply this therapeutive writing method to parts of your life, lots of logical gaps lead you to misinterpret people’s intentions. It really messes with your interpersonal relationships.

1. It ruins experiences.

When you bring your crappy iPhone at a concert and spend your time staring at your screen instead of the stage, you’re being deterred from soaking in all the experience has to offer. Whether it be a concert, a party, or whatever, these are one time events whose pleasure comes from living in that moment.

Like photography, bringing a notebook along or even devoting some of your precious brainpower to turn an experience into a blog post ruins an experience.

You might reaction to say, a death in the family, in a cold, calculated manner. Your ability to react is greatly reduced.

Of course, it can also greatly enhance your ability to appreciate something or someone, but more often than not, it’s the former.

Disclaimer – I love writing so freaking much; this post was just to recognize that it’s an imperfect activity, as each other has its own unique faults. At the end of the day, however, the benefits still greatly exceed the downsides, and I wouldn’t give up this experience for anything.

I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE.