I've added new blogger, Jessie, to my blogroll. She's a forty-something newly-minted real estate agent wondering if her new career is worth continuing. (At least she lives in Texas, cuz given the real estate market everywhere else, the answer would have to be "Are you kidding?")
I like the ambiguous title of her blog, Fumbling At Joy.
In Jessie's welcoming message, she mentions that one reason for opening a blog is that it is cheaper than therapy.
Got that right, and therapy is something I know a whole lot about. Having adopted five daughters as older children over a twenty year period, I practically had therapists on retainer. As I often said about one particularly difficult daughter, the counselor didn't do much for my child, but her therapy was the reason I survived that kid's adolescence.
There are as many reasons for blogging as there are bloggers. Working out one's issues on an anonymous yet public stage seems to me to be a good one.
I started my blog nearly five years ago (Sheesh! Has it really been that long? And I STILL have all this debt?) to keep myself honest as I move financially and emotionally toward retirement. As with the recent post on condos, I tend to do much of my thinking out loud. It helps me sort out what's important, as do the responses, which range from supportive to "You did WHAT??" Most of all, I appreciate hearing what others have done in similar circumstances and how it is working (or not) for them.
Good thing I can blog, since the one thing I cannot currently afford is a good therapist.
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12 comments:
AMEN!!!!
Grace just like you I find blogging to be very therapeutic....
That is a very good point and I hadn't really thought about blogging as therapy before but it's absolutely true. I love the comments I get because while I get positive feedback and encouragement I also get the unvarnished truth just when I really need it.
Thanks so much Grace!! I have followed your blog (anonymously) for years, and seeing my name pop up here thrilled me no end :-)
Grace, I love YOUR blog and a few others that I read on a regular basis. I have been thinking of starting a blog myself. How do I begin? I am not really savvy when it comes to this kind of stuff. (computer graphics, etc)
I think it can be like therapy and there is a lot research showing that writing about problems/journalling in specific ways (about feelings) does have a measurable effect on peoples immune system and their general health.
When Dad first came to live with me I started another blog where I just was able to just be brutally honest about what it really felt like to have our lives turned upside down by Alzhiemers.
I can honestly say I think it saved my sanity as I was so isolated the internet was really my only contact with others who were going through the same thing.
thank god for blogging!
Yes! Blogging is effective therapy for me. And a huge part of that therapy is the generous community of bloggers who visit and take a moment to cheer me on in my stroke recovery.
Maura--"Penny Foolish" wrote an excellent post years ago that I followed when I start ed my blog. Take a look at: here
I find reading other blogs theraputic! I love yours, it's real, personal, and gets me thinking about things I wouldn't otherwise.
The other lovely aspect of blogging, aside from the benefits you and others have mentioned, is it is a legacy of your life that your children and grandchildren will forever have a record of. I find that comforting at a deep, very satisfying level.
I've always considered blogging my form of therapy for all the things I've had to cope with and saved me the cost of actual therapy!
Losing my "voice" after Mom died has been a trauma in itself. I couldn't force the issue but I hoped and tried to find my words again around that event to start the healthy part of the grieving process because after all these years, without some sort of writing, it doesn't feel like I'm even beginning to heal.
I couldn't say that attempting real therapy has felt much more productive, really.
Revanche--when my father died, my mother carried on like a trooper. but four months later, her cat died and she went to pieces. That's when she finally agreed to therapy--we had to look around to find someone older than she was so she'd feel comfortable. But it was a great help to her and the first thing the therapist said to her was "You do know this ISN"T just about the cat?" Timing is everything when it comes to therapy, and it takes time when the subject is years-long relationships.
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