To Blog? Or not to Blog?

Four years! Four years since I posted something here. I just reread my previous posts. I stopped blogging because other things were more pressing and blogging took up time. So much life has happened since I stopped! My kids are practically grown. Becca is a senior! Bethany is almost 14! Time honestly and truly does seem to zip by faster than the speed of light. I had good reasons for stopping writing on this blog--spending time with my family, focusing on my job, keeping up with daily chores, etc. I had written a few posts back that when I was old, I was not going to look back and wish I had blogged more. Rather, I would be glad I spent that time with my family. After rereading my blog posts from as far back as 2008, I'm not so sure I would agree with that now.

Certainly, I would not trade time with my family for time blogging. I do, however, wish I had found time for both even in the midst of my busy life and even if my blog posts were just a few sentences about my day. Here's why. Reading through my old blog posts made me acutely aware of how much I had forgotten. Things I was sure I would remember, I had pushed to the farthest corners of my mind, to almost unreachable corners. But because I blogged about them, I was able to remember, even if rather hazily, those events which painted a picture of that time period in my life. It was a pleasant walk through a small portion of the gallery of my life and my family's. I liked being able to do that. Blogging allowed me to do that.

So, yes, blogging can take up time, precious time, but blogging gives back, too. I realized today that it gives back in spades.

I am tempted to wallow in regret that I did not keep up blogging as a way of keeping up with the growth and development of my children, the many things that they said and did that I have long forgotten, and daily events in my own life, or even current events. It's those little things that are precious and so many of those precious little things are gone with the wind now. They have vanished from my memory. I'll never get them back now.

However, I am not going to wallow in regret. Heaven knows I do that enough as it is. I will start anew and try to recapture memories as they surface and record them here. I am glad I keep journals for my girls. Although I go months without writing in them, I do try to jot down notes to transfer to journals later. But the little bits of paper on which I hurriedly jot notes accumulate and sometimes I forget to date them or write down who said what. Or they get lost. Blogging regularly would solve those pesky problems. Plus, I type much faster than I write.