...This question was asked recently on the TWBB where I've been more of an observer than a participant lately, and when I went to comment on the poster's blog about it, I found myself starting to write a book. So I tamed down my answers for her comment box and saved them for here.

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One aside before I start though: Yes, I would read my kids' blogs if they had one because I would want to know what they're putting out there. They could be violating my right to safety and privacy if they post my name or other details about our lives that are specific. And I would hope that they read mine too.

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I blog because I started a journal when I was dating DH and wanted to remember things about us seeing each other. I didn't realize that I would end up marrying him, and I guess it's a good thing that I wrote everything down. It's nice to have that history. Writing everything down at the time - what I was thinking, what we did, how I felt - made it easier to figure out when he'd cross my mind while I was studying. It was like trying to empty my confused mind so that I could focus on what was important. Before DH I had 3 relationships that, as I look back on them, were all dysfunctional in different ways - some small, some not. Oh, one was very much not small - *that one* was a big dysfunctional relationship. Anyway, writing it all down made me feel better and made me be able to take a step back from it and see if there was anything that didn't seem quite right.

I blog because I stopped keeping that journal years ago (shame on me) and I really miss chronicling things that are important to me. So, why don't I keep a private file instead of posting it out here? Because I share this information with my friends, and sometimes I don't just write about what's going on in my life, but about other things that people might find interesting or worth thinking about.

I blog because writing things down became too slow for my hyperdrive brain and I would inevitably miss something. I can actually type to keep up with the thoughts that tumble out of my brain and therefore I can capture just about everything that I want to say about a subject in the order that I want to say it. I'm very stream of consciousness when I decide to write freeform and am not addressing a specific subject. That's why you sometimes get an abrupt change of topic that starts off with a "...and by the way..." and ends with a "... but I digress."

I blog because I need a creative outlet other than stitching by which to torque my thinking processes and writing does it for me. It can be fiction that never sees the light of day, or commentary that makes it here on the blog - either way, it's a release for me that I desperately crave. And it's one that works better than all the exercise and fresh air in the world because it excises things that can't leave through sweat and pain.

I blog because I think it's the best way to capture things that my children do or say and share them with my friends out there around the world that I might not have time to email - or they might not have time to email me. But they can still keep in touch with a quick read.

I blog because if I drop off any BB's that I visit, folks who don't want to email me know that they can drop by here and find out what I've been up to, or how I'm feeling, or why I might not be visiting the usual watering holes.

I blog because I get to finish my thoughts carefully, in my own time and without the pressure of being the first one to say something or being the one who kills the thread. I get to make my statements with little argument - unless someone wants to start something in the comments, but I'm okay with that too.

I think that covers most of the reasons that I blog.

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I'd have the Friday Five here as well, but it seems that the Five webmaster is still MIA. I'm starting to worry...