Why blog?

So, this afternoon it occurred to me that while I have three blogs for my students (who haven't been using them), and one blog to which I occasionally contribute for the department (which doesn't really use it), I don't have one that's my own. This is because I haven't ever really felt the need to broadcast my thoughts, since, a) I'm a pretty private person in most ways, and have always sort of thought blogs were for divas and b) I guess, in some ways I do broadcast some of my thoughts, every day, as a teacher. And, time being what is (always scarce), this has always seemed like more than enough output.

But actually...it's not. Writing and thinking with students isn't the same as writing for myself. I haven't kept a diary in ages (I tried. Really), and apart from the odd poem or essay, I haven't written much recently, or written consistently. I joined a poetry group last year but didn't have the time to attend (at least not properly). It's odd: I spend so much time helping kids craft and revise their writing. Why should they listen to me?

The worst part about my hiatus from writing isn't that I'm rusty. (Though I'm pretty sure I am). It's that I've been so out of touch with this integral part of myself for so long. (The reasons for the hiatus belong in a separate posting, but are what you'd guess: preoccupation with learning how to teach well, and learning to navigate the difficult waters of that vocation). I've missed writing...deeply, truly. I think (I hope, anyway), it's missed me too. While my parents and my brother have music to sustain them (and, have found amazing and interesting ways to make it a part of their careers), writing has remained a distant part of my own work. A prerequisite, but not necessarily a living, breathing element.

So, while I don't imagine this blog will have much of an audience, it won't really need one.