Maybe you do it because you want to have a voice in the world, even if it is only a whisper of a voice in a tiny corner of one very small closet of a crowded room at the far-end wing of a world-sized hotel. Maybe you do it to impact people in a positive way. Perhaps you were born a writer and if you don’t write, it feels like there is a distinct possibility that you don’t really exist.

Or maybe? You do it because you have a business and it helps pay the bills. Or your love language is words of encouragement and you love you some comments. Maybe you do it so far-away Aunt Patsy Lou can see the kids without you having to print out photos. Or you like when people agree with you. OR you like to stir the pot.

(the obligatory photo b/c emily can’t. post. without. a photo.)

I’m not saying the purpose of your blog has to be noble or world-changing. I’m just trying to convince you that you have one. You could write privately. There is a reason why you choose to write in public. And knowing that purpose can save you time, can keep you sane and can help you know when to say no. Or yes, depending.

If you already clearly know your purpose or if your blog is just a space for you to vent randomly and you are happy with that, then these questions may not matter to you. But if, as some of you mentioned in yesterdays comments, you are at an impasse with why you blog and what to do next, I hope these simple questions can help to nudge you in the right direction.

Which posts make you nervous when you hit publish? Nervous in a good way, because what you said there in that post was really important to you and you hope it is well received.

Which posts feel like work or drudgery? You do these because you feel like you should or you are supposed to. Chances are if you don’t like those posts, we don’t either. Or if we do, then you are attracting an audience of readers who will continue to demand things from you that you don’t like giving.

On which posts do you receive the most comments? These may give a hint as to the type of readers you have…

On which posts do you receive the most comments that mean something to you? …but these posts give a hint as to where your passion and the passion of the reader intersect. Bingo!

What are your top three favorite posts? Simple, I know. I never said this was rocket science.

If you could have a blog about anything but didn’t worry about if other people would read it, what would it be? Give yourself permission to answer this one honestly.

Do you still love what you write about?

And one thing NOT to ask:

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. -Howard Thurman

So there you have it. I’m not asking you to answer these qustions for me, I’m just offering them for you to think about for you, as this is a portion of what we talked about at She Speaks. I hope it is helpful in some way.

When I first started blogging in January of 2006, I had one purpose and one purpose only: to write. I had two toddler babies and lots of rapidly decreasing brain cells and I wanted a place to put my thoughts and know they wouldn’t go anywhere. Not just any thoughts. Not a grocery list or a diary or a commentary of the weather or the days events. Thoughts that meant something. Thoughts that had value, order and some redemptive quality.

So I wrote. I had been writing privately all of my life, but after I had babies, my writing slowed significantly. When I heard about people writing on blogs, my interest was perked and this new writing challenge was intriguing. I came up with a title and was ready to go. My first post was published on January 26, 2006 and I had no idea what I was doing. I posted twice in February, once in March and April and twice in June.  Six months into it, I had seven blog posts. It wasn’t until June of 2007 that I began to get into a groove of writing on a regular basis.

Over the years (years!), this space has taken different feels and forms. A purpose has begun to bloom beneath the stories and snapshots of everyday life. I take great care thinking about how much to share, how to say the much in as little as possible, and most importantly, how to create soul space for you without it being all about me. I believe it’s important to know why we do what we do.

My dad just wrote a post about his bloggy purpose. He didn’t necessarily start out with the same purpose he has now, but he says “do it regularly, keep at it, mess up, refine refine refine, repeat, and maybe after awhile you become one with it and you’re making music and not just playing notes.”

There are a series of questions Nester and I shared at She Speaks that have helped us define and refine the purpose of our blogs and I’d like to share those with you tomorrow. But first tell me: Why do you do what you do? Do you have a blog for a reason you can articulate? Can you describe your bloggy purpose in one sentence?