I have recently had a couple of conversations (alright, texchanges) with friends where I asked the question, “Do you or have you thought of blogging?” This started as a thinly veiled attempt to drum up some more support and interest by offering them spaces on Subproximus Blogs, but as I started answering a few questions I realized that I have witnessed and been a part of watching how blogs have changed from a novelty to a useful tool in the areas of personal and professional development.

I have always found the process of reflection helpful, whether it be reflecting on decisions, emotions or the day in a general way. Ongoing studies, scientific and anecdotal, confirm that such an outward reflection and communication, in a variety of forms, be it writing in a journal or dictation, help lend perspective on situations and pave the way for development, again leading to that personal and/or professional growth.

When first coming across blogging, I cynically equated it to blowhards or narcissists that wanted to use the internet, its anonymity and accessibility to feed their egos by imagining that their expressed thoughts were important enough to be read by a vast, if imagined, audience. I won’t deny that there still may be a population of those people, but what became more apparent was that people were using blogs to disseminate thoughts and ideas in a way that was increasingly confirmed as positive and, for some, necessary as a way of reflecting and playing with thoughts and ideas. I know for me, blogging has turned into one of those things that should be perfect for me to air out ideas, gain perspective and even pick up some valuable advice from people who care enough to comment.

As I type, I wonder if I should be titling this “Why I Should Blog More” as my blogging has become rather intermittent lately. Out of concern for my mental health, I am beginning to turn again to blogging to get some of those thoughts out and, hopefully, become a better writer.

By having a server with plenty of space available, I am in a position to invite people to share a similar experience. By owning the server, I can also toss out invitations to the people whom I feel have valuable opinions to express and share. Now that the big distraction of setting up the server to host multiple blogs has passed, I plan to refocus that energy and intent on developing my own contributions and make good on my own advice.

Blogs can occur under a range of privacy settings, at a variety of fictional levels. As a fledgling nerd-wanna-be, I enjoy looking and adjusting the inner workings at a server level to make things go, so will be happy to assist in whatever way I can to get and keep your blog up and running. The only thing that I would ask right now is that if you plan on making money on your blog, please wait a bit as we at the Subproximus Conglomerate are not ready for sponsored blogs or blogs that wish to run advertising. The last thing that I would say by means of encouragement, is that as it is a personal server, you could be assured that if your foray into the blogosphere doesn’t work out you could drop me an email and whatever traces of your words, thoughts and blog would be wiped out and lost from the ‘net.

So that the pitch, I guess, and a way to limber up my fingers for the next round of typing on a personal blog that I really should be getting back to. Cheers!