Now for Something Completely Different: Big Bad Blogger Challenge - Day 1

This is the first of a week of posts for the Big Bad Blogger Challenge 2010:

The BBBC started in 2008 as a way to give SL bloggers a little kickstart, and give people something to read. But it turned into a great sharing opportunity! We've really had a fun time the past couple of years . . . The Big Bad Blogger Challenge for June: Update your blog every day for one week starting June 13th, and the last challenge post will be June 18th.  Alicia Chenaux.

Today's Topic: Why did you become a blogger? How has it enriched your life?

My first thought when I read today's topic was to wonder about the difference between the questions, "Why did you become a blogger?" and "Why did you start writing your blog?" I named this blog "Botgirl's Second Life Diary" because it started out mostly as a personal journal. I suspected it might someday have an audience. I wrote to an imagined reader. But in the beginning I was happy writing for myself and the handful of people who stumbled by from time to time. I didn't really think of myself as "a blogger".

Everything changed a month later when a post with the headline Who Is Botgirl? hit New World Notes. I learned about it when I glanced at my daily SiteMeter report and the typical single digit view count had jumped into the hundreds. It turned out that the Hamlet guy I'd traded emails with about a video I'd posted on YouTube was the publisher of the largest blog covering Second Life. The very first time I really felt like "a blogger" was when I hit the "Publish Post" button the next day.

Although I've gone through slumps from time to time,  I now consider blogging to be a primary spiritual practice.  It provides ongoing motivation to go beyond the surface of life experiences and dive deep into the unknown, and a place to share whatever insights I glean with like-minded people around the world.

Oh yeah. It's also a great way to raise a little hell from time to time.  


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