Why blog when very few people will bother to read?
I have owned this domain since 2006 when a man in Ireland no longer wanted it or just forgot to renew and I swept in and grabbed it from him. I always thought about using this site to update family and friends about what is going on with the kids. Post pictures, videos, etc. – that kind of thing. Well, right about that time Facebook was just taking foot, so there went that idea. This has sat dormant ever since. A couple of years ago, I loaded WordPress onto the site in the hopes of blogging someday. I actually wrote a Coming Soon post back in late March. The problem being: Do I have anything interesting to say and will anyone actually read what I write? I don’t find myself particularly interesting or funny. I have lived a relatively boring life. I can’t even say I am a very good writer. It was by far my worst subject in school. The topic for my college English/Writing placement essay was: What person past or present would you like to meet and why? I’m sure most people wrote about Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., Helen Keller and other important figures in history. Who did I write about? You guessed it – Walter Payton. Needless to say, I did not test out of Rhet 105 my freshman year at the University of Illinois.
Why bother blogging then? I can only muster a few likes when I post things on Facebook, so why spend time writing about stuff no one will probably read? There are a few reasons. Most of which will probably get their own specific entry at some point.
1) I hate my job. Owning your own business isn’t as glamorous as many people think. Though I don’t have to work very hard anymore, I physically have to be at work 6 days a week. There is a lot of down time. Writing is a more productive use of time and brain power than watching reruns of Scrubs on Netflix. However, I have found myself enjoying binge watching shows that I normally don’t have time to watch.
2) I am a very guarded person with a very deep vault. I don’t open up to people very easily. Ask anyone that knows me. I have held in things for a very long time. That’s not healthy. I have had some recent conversations with people that have given me the confidence to open up and discuss things that I have only talked about with my wife. That can be a huge burden on her – it’s not easy living with me. Sometimes, others have to help shoulder that load. As Dionne Warwick said, “That’s What Friends are For.” I will write about it at some point, but the couple of people I have had conversations with have no idea the impact they had on me. They might have thought it was the weird ramblings of a madman, but it was truly eye opening for me. For that, I am truly grateful. I am learning to trust people. Not everyone is as judgmental as me…
3) I have an overly active mind. It keeps me up at night way too often. I start thinking about things and I can’t stop. I will run through scenarios and dialogue of situations that will never happen. If they do happen, it never goes the way I thought they would in my head. It’s a complete waste of time. I will go over things I said to people and obsess about what they might have thought. Always in fear of being judged. Instead of taking things at face value, I over analyze the situation. I create undo stress when there shouldn’t be any. I have found that writing is a way of getting those things out of my head. If I physically write out what I am thinking, it’s no longer holed up inside me causing me agita. In a sense, it’s a form of therapy.
4) It might sound that I am a raging lunatic fit for a strait jacket, but I can safely say that I am not. I actually do have some funny stories to tell. I have told the same ones over and over again. You’ll probably hear them again here. They are too funny not to repeat. Also, I do encounter an intriguing cast of characters on a daily basis that make me shake my head and wonder how some people function in life.
5) I’m sure there are many other reasons that I can’t think of off the top of my head. I already have several topics that have popped in my head as I have been writing this. I have always been better at expressing myself in writing. I get lost in thought when I am talking one on one with someone. I find myself repeating myself and stumbling through the words. Writing allows me to stay focused.
My idea is to write something once or twice a month. I doubt I will stick to that schedule. I am a very lazy person. I will try to write about various topics from the serious to the mundane. In most cases, I will be very general in regards to names of people I am writing about. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or publicly humiliate if I am making fun of them. Out of respect, I don’t want to reveal who I have had personal conversations with either. It will be as generic as possible. Most people, if they bother to read this blog, will know who I am talking about. If they don’t, even better! I will probably have my wife proofread what I write, but I can’t promise perfect grammar. She is very busy and won’t always have time to check my work. I apologize in advance for my mediocre writing skills. If you have any questions or comments you can state them in the Comments section after each post. If you want to contact me privately, I can be reached at terry@terrymccann.com. That is the email address I am using for the blog. If you have my personal email address you can reach me there too. Same if you have my cell number. You can always text. I am also on Facebook and Twitter. I don’t really accept FB requests unless I actually know you though. My Twitter isn’t that exciting. Most of my tweets are complaints about what is going on with the Blackhawks. I hope you enjoy.
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