Writing blogs provided me with moments of reflection and renewal, like an active meditation. From outlining my bucket list to detailing my relationship with reading, I discovered a particular comfort and excitement associated with conveying my weekly thoughts. Sharing my stories not only improved my writing ability but also gave me a comprehensive understanding of myself. Putting ideas and thoughts into writing, I can both organize my thoughts and hear out my own voice.
Of all my blogs, my favorite was our first; the literacy narrative. Though not the most enticing of subjects for the reader, as the writer, I was required to reflect on a topic that I had, for long, mixed relationships with. I knew that I had never been the biggest fan of reading, nevertheless the best reader, and it was something I had never confronted and I felt surprisingly satisfied doing so. Sadly reflecting on my experiences with reading, it’s the negative ones that are the most prominent, but it helped me draw the conclusion that my past struggles with literature and writing were not rooted from an inability or even hatred, but attributed to a collection of false motivations. I had expectations for myself, and when such expectations were not met, I simply gave up. This reflection upon my relationship with reading opened avenues of understanding and gave me a new approach to writing and reading that would help me in my future endeavors as a reader and writer.
Over the course of the semester, I have drastically improved my ability to freely write. Like journaling, blogs extended my ability to write beyond literary analysis. It opened up a creative aspect to my writing that included different types of media such as videos, pictures, and graphs to convey information in a different way. Moreover, I found that with the freedom to choose my topics, writing became more fluid – there was no set structure. Being able to utilize a variety of sources in my writing, specifically with differing perspectives, allowed me to draft my own views on a topic of my choice. In the past, English classes have strictly analyzed one source, primarily a book, regarding one topic, and although it did come with its benefits to comprehension, I was not able to expand past that singular work or singular perspective. Writing blogs helped me reach my own voice, and ironically that came with understanding more perspectives. New perspectives in addition to unconventional topics kindled new appreciation for differing viewpoints that I began to leverage in my own writing and seeking in the writing of others.
We all have stories to tell, and I didn’t realize how beneficial that could be for both sides. Classmates were eager to share their stories about traditions, travels, and even parking, and I was happy to listen. I was surprised by some of my classmates’ posts. Jack focused on his life at home with brothers much older than him. As someone who is the oldest, with one brother only 2 years apart, I was never able to recognize such disparity about over supervision, but reading Jack’s blog, I was able to understand his story. My experiences were so different, which only made reading his more interesting. I realized that however close I thought we were, there was much that I didn’t know; and the blogs provided a channel for us to share.
Our blogs were a simple way to convey thoughts, and even if we will no longer be assigned blogs, I will continue to incorporate this idea of “free writing” into my more “professional writing”, in hopes of developing ideas of my own and furthering my commentary. Overall I enjoyed writing blogs much more than rigid essays. They allowed me to create my own narrative in writing and even the design of the blog. Whether or not we continue blogs next semester, I will continue to seek out different perspectives as well as be open to sharing my own.
