Ah, blogging. What a funny, fascinating phenomenon. Whether sharing the experiences of cultivating a hobby and talent, regaling loyal readers with many a pithy turn of phrase, or assembling an amalgam of amusing cultural tidbits, blogging is a fabulously self-indulgent means of sending a little more of YOU out into the universe.
Having made my foray into the blogosphere as a nascent Peace Corps volunteer, I soon appreciated the power of the keyboard in keeping me connected and allowing me to connect - with friends, family and perfect strangers who all found some value in the experiences and impressions that I conveyed.
After returning to the U.S. of A. 14 months ago, I figured my blogging days were done - how could life in Washington, DC compare to the experiences of living and traveling abroad? Without the fodder of anecdotes revolving around cross-cultural blunders, the discovery of new places, and tiny windows into the many lives that touched mine as I fumbled through theprocess of cross-cultural adaptation and integration, what would I have to write about? Well, that's not yet entirely clear. All I know is that every day we are touched - by a magazine article, impression, headline, image, feeling, interaction, discovery, quote, random kindness, unexpected thrill, momentary disappointment, epiphany - a thousand tiny things that shape how we are, what we think and, ultimately, who we become. Why not put a little of that out into the universe - or blogosphere, as the case may be?
Beyond that, now that I've finished the monumental task of applying to graduate school, I need a little structure to fill some of the gaping holes where stress, frantic studying, and essay writing once dwelt. So here goes.
And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.Sylvia Plath
