To blog, or not to blog. That is the question

So I've been thinking about another blog post for a while now.  I've discovered a few things about blogs in the short time that I've been doing one. 
First, a blog is not necessarily the same thing as a journal. I mean, it could be and I think some people blog about things that are very personal and feel like they can be completely honest in their blog and say whatever they feel. For me, as I pondered what I was encountering in my life and travels and the feelings and reactions that would happen in me, I quickly realized that I can't exactly say everything in this forum.  I'm not saying that I'm going to lie here.  On the contrary I plan to be almost brutally honest at times and bring out the truth whenever I can recognize it.  But, since my wife, in-laws, ministers, friends and family are among my readers and there are no doubt things that some in those groups don't want others in those groups to know, I think its smarter to keep certain observations to myself.  The blog can definitely be cathartic, but propriety necessitates that I adhere to a code. Keep that which is meant to be private within me. Or at the very least keep from blurting it out in a public forum like this. I used to write in a journal in college and for a time after that and I'm thinking that for my own growth and sanity in some cases I will take up journal writing again very soon.  There will no doubt be topics and entries that end up in both medium.

A second observation about blogs is more an observation about myself and how I'd like my readers to perceive me and my blog.  It is simply this....I want this blog to be of a certain quality and for the people who take the time to read it to enjoy it.  It's been over two weeks since I last posted.  When I first started I was thinking that I'd be a two or three time a week poster depending on how many interesting things happened to me or how many witty anecdotes I could come up with.  I've found myself in the shower often thinking of possible blog topics, and mentally throwing crumpled up papers at the waste basket in my imagination.  (I do some of my best thinking in the shower.  Some people sing, I just think about stuff.  I do sing also, but usually it turns into a cartoon like rendition of a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic.  Oklahoma is one of my favorites...just ask my wife)  You know, I had originally hoped that the process of coming up with these posts would be much more organic.  That the topics would just overflow out of a wealth of juicy human experiences.  Yeah, well that brings me to my next observation about blogging....
With all the different ways available to us for sharing our lives through social media, it's a little harder than I expected to wait until you have enough stuff to make a decent blog post.  I mean there's Facebook, which makes it easy to post a status update and let people know what you're thinking or what is going on.  And because those posts are usually shorter and more direct, they are easier to come up with and faster.  There is also Twitter and Linked In.  I'm not really that into tweeting. I've got an account and I occasionally tweet but I have to admit I just don't "get it" when it comes to tweeting.  I guess you can say I haven't found that sweet spot or had that "ah ha!" moment with it.  The interactions with twitter don't seem to be all that informative or fun to me.  I'm sure there are plenty that disagree with me on that.  Just not my thing yet and at this rate unless someone drops some revelation of the twitterverse on me, I don't think it ever will be.  Linked In I use for work/career related networking almost exclusively so there isn't a lot of honesty to be found on there.  (Said with tongue firmly in cheek)  I know there are plenty of other social networking sites also.  I almost forgot to mention YouTube.   I got a really cool Flip video camera that fits in my pocket for Christmas (thanks to my totally awesome in-laws, I love you guys).  So I've even found ways to use it to chronicle some of my adventures.  Again, this sucks creativity away from the blog process.   I know, I know...I could post those videos to my blog.   Give me time; I'm working on learning to do that.  That's actually a goal of mine for a coming post.  But you get the picture.
Put all this together and it really has made me appreciate the discipline and emerging art form of blogging.  I'm still new to it and learning fast but I obviously have a long way to go.   At least I made myself sit down tonight in my hotel room and get this post down.   That deserves a pat on the back and perhaps a "Little Debbie - Nutty Bar".   Mmmm, hmmmm!   I'll eat one and dedicate it to my good friend Rev. R. Kelly Johnson in Kenya.

Cheers