Why I blog?

It is my 100th post today... And yes.. let the drum roll begin, let the marching bands go.. and oh yes... applaud applaud.. hehe..
:-)
Today I will attempt to answer the question which I have been asked a lot of times.. Why do you blog?

I started blogging; just to get over my fear of being on the open internet...There was a time, when I used to freak out if I searched for my name and my Linked In profile showed up. I didn’t like it. I liked to be a person.. and not be searchable! Plus I was always a bit reserved when it came to talking about me... let me rephrase.. I could go on and on about discussing and lecturing and debating different things.. but I was always shy/self conscious at talking about my problems/issues/ short comings to near and dear one.. I am sure a few friends are nodding their heads. I had to change that. And so I did.... I started getting over my first issue of being "open" on net, I used my pen name GNSD.. Shared the blogs with just family and some friends. Then I started enjoying the writing process. It felt exhilarating. I started slowly getting over my second issue of being "open" about me. It felt free, liberating.. My friend was right.. it's not hard to talk about yourself. I got over it and used my first name for my professional contribution.
And then slowly and surely (thankfully) I met wonderful people in the blogging world. It was an extension on my community. I realized my writing and "issues" fell into two distinct categories.. mommy related and my adventures related.. I decided to split my blogs. One as my Mommy-In-Making Blog and other as this....Not knowing a lot of young parents around me used to leave me a little worried, second guessing myself; if you will. But coming across numerous other fellow bloggers, mommy bloggers, reading, it felt good.. and once again I learned something: "You are the best parent for your child" ... I feel less judged by my own eyes.. I think I am okay telling myself.. I am learning, making mistakes, picking myself up again.. and figuring out! The mommy blog really helped me cope up with not driving myself or SD crazy.
And then.. blogging opened up other interesting ventures.. My professional contribution to "Chicago Moms Blog" I attended my first ever Blogging conference. I got interviewed by CNN for a parenting viewpoint, I got a brand new Chevy to test drive for a weekendand write about, I figured out Google Reader... I learned about branding, advertising, making professional and personal relationships with bloggers. I met wonderful people who blog, who write, who author books, who own companies, who start companies, who reach out to community, who help out.. and above all.. who are wonderful people... I learned.. blogging is a community itself. I am now excited at a few new opportunities brewing up for me.
In addition to all this.. blogging is truly fun. I remember when my dear friend Prutha was starting her blog.. we'd spent countless email exchanges inserting up analytics, making it searchable and the likes... It's then when I realized.. Blogging is self expression. When she reached her first 100 followers... she told me. I grinned cheek to cheek... Blogging is fun, especially with minimum investment, you get to reach out to more people. Friends, strangers alike and talk about what you can contribute to people around! See what the Uniform Project achieved… It’s inspiring.
I blog because I can. As some wise person said "I write because therapy is freaking expensive!"

To my 100th........ Thanks SD for being you :-). Thanks Bhaia.. for the encouragement and help in setting up my own blog well! Thanks readers.. for reading, commenting and being such wonderful e-friends ;-)

And yes... It's a start!