Contemplative blogging

I miss blogging. More, I miss having deeply reflective conversations with other bloggers. I miss the collegiality of the conversations. Since I started seriously focusing on my dissertation, I stopped following a lot of blogs. I’ve been in this in-between world.

When I my friend Autumm decided to start a contemplative blog practice, I figured it was a great opportunity for me to get back into the habit of blogging. In the article Autumm comments that the Tree of Contemplative Practices doesn’t include any digital practices. I would disagree, in that it includes journalling, and to me blogging has always been a form of journalling. I don’t know why but I am unable to journal without blogging – I guess I feel the need to share my thoughts – and the comments and tagged blog posts I get help me to further develop those ideas.

I do wonder what is special about blogging – and writing for an audience – that makes it different for me? I think it is in part knowing that someone cares – that my writing matters to someone – or that there is some hope that someone else will learn from it. I don’t necessarily write just for me. My audience is unknown, but knowing that there is an audience does matter, even if that audience is friends and family.

But what else makes blogging a contemplative practice. In this case, it is a commitment to doing it regularly. It is not something that is done on a whim, rather it is something that you decide you will do. In this case, I have decided that I’m going to actively work towards reconnection. At least once per week I am going to look at other people’s blogs and I’m going to write a post that references them. I’m going to reflect on some aspect of what they said – to try to engage in a deeper conversation.

In the past, these deeper conversations have been focused around a MOOC. It is how I have met many of my online friends. This time, I’m going to look at blog posts. I’m going to try to write about ideas from someone new each week. That will be my intentional contemplative practice.

Thanks Autumm for kickstarting it for me 🙂