Dry Canyon (mountain bikin' on the lunch hour - May 6, 2003)

Why do I blog?

Just participated in a UEN Tech Summit discussion on blogging. The non-bloggers asked questions that I asked myself when I started blogging back in February. Here are some of the concerns that came up:

• What if no one reads it?
• What if everyone reads it?
• How much time does it take?
• What if I don't have a clear purpose in mind when I start?
• What criteria would I use to measure the success of my blogging efforts?

Here are a few of the ideas we considered.

Blogging can strengthen your communication skills. It's perhaps a bit like exercising. I attend a spinning class (indoor bicycling) a couple times a week. One of my motivations is to improve my strength and endurance so when I go mountain biking, I've got the lungs and legs climb the hill. If your job requires "excellent communication skills," blogging may help keep those skills in top condition.

Blogging is a worthwhile endeavor in self-expression even if the only reader is the blog writer. Thinking through topics, research, writing, editing, proofing, publishing -- the process may be as important or more imporant than what you actually write.

Will blogging increase your immunity levels, lower anxiety, and increase your sense of well-being? I don't know of any studies that have been done of the health benefits of blogging, per se. But studies of journal writers do suggest the above health benefits occur with some journal writers. Why wouldn't this tend to be true of blog writers -- especially blogs which are essentially online journals?

What role could blogging play in your portfolio of communication investments? Where does blogging fit on your list of effective communication techiques?

• one-on-one, face-to-face, in person dialogue
• small group discusion
• wowing an engaged audience
• boring a captive audience
• telephone conversation
• handwritten personal note
• point-to-point e-mail
• point-to-multipoint e-mail
• cogent voicemail under 15 seconds
• rambling voicemail over 60 seconds

"The inner speech, your thoughts, can cause you to be rich or poor, loved or unloved, happy or unhappy, attractive or unattractive, powerful or weak." --Ralph Charell

Found while looking for something else: Tchaikovsky's birthday

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University of Utah campus as seen from today's ride up Dry Canyon.

squinting?

I'm driving north along 2100 East near 1300 South at about 7:45 this morning. As I enter the intersection on a green light, an eastbound vehicle on 13th south fails to stop at her red light and enters the intersection. I swerve. She finally sees me and hits her brakes. We don't collide. She continues on eastbound up 13th. I continue on northbound along 21st, trying to put this together. Possibly the sun was in her eyes, she squinted at the traffic signal, mistakenly thought it was green and continued on her way. Fortunately, I wasn't distracted and had a quick reaction time this morning. Also fortunately, she slowed down as she came through the intersection. If she'd been going just a little faster or if I hadn't responded when I did, it would have been ugly.

I immediately thought of Jim Stewart's recent blog entry on his near accident on I-15 in Davis County. Jim's experience was more dramatic than mine, but I like the way he thought through it and chose not to let it anger him too much. If I hadn't have read Jim's blog I doubt that I would have cooled off as quickly as I did. I doubt that I would have remembered that I've also done some pretty dumb things and other drivers gave me the benefit of the doubt. Or there was some kind of unseen intervention. Or both.

p.s. Just went back and actually re-read Jim's entry to add in the above link. Jim, I don't think I quite gave you enough credit above. I see your entry actualIy had a great deal to do with my much-calmer-than-usual reaction this morning. Thanks.

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