Top 10 Reasons Why I Blog: Personal Reflections

I remember asking myself the same question—and it wasn’t just curiosity; it had a negative tone.

“Why am I writing blog posts when I find the work difficult, time-consuming, and, most importantly, when it seems like no one is reading?”

This question haunted me around the second year of my blogging adventure. Coming up with a weekly blog post felt like climbing a mountain. The challenges were plenty—lack of time, procrastination, and the most daunting of all, writer’s block every time I faced a blank page (or screen).

Despite these struggles, I kept asking myself why I was still blogging.

But every time the annual WordPress renewal rolled around, I found myself reaching for my credit card and hitting the BUY button.

After seven years of plugging away (or should I say renewing), I’m finally starting to realize the WHY of blogging. Here are my top 10 reasons why I blog:

1. Clarity in Thinking: The most unexpected benefit of blogging has been the clarity it brings to my thoughts. What starts as a jumble of ideas in my head becomes organized and clear as I work to find the right words.
2. Improvement in Writing Skills: As someone who struggles to write even short birthday card messages, the weekly practice of writing longer pieces has been an essential exercise.
3. Enhancing Design Skills: This was also unexpected. Writing and design are both forms of communication, and they can complement each other. Teaching students in a design studio has shown me the power of using words to communicate visual ideas effectively.
4. Strengthening Discipline: Knowing I have “deadlines” to meet every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:00 a.m. (aka blog publication deadlines) has helped me get better at managing myself and my time.
5. Networking with Strangers: Reading comments from people I’ve never met brings a happiness I didn’t know I needed.
6. Business Opportunities: Professional opportunities like architecture projects, article submissions in industry magazines, and speaker invitations have been unexpected perks of my blogging journey.
7. Developing a Reflection Habit: To come up with weekly “life outside of the design studio” posts, I’ve become better at observing everyday moments in my life.
8. Becoming Intentional: Similar to the reflection habit, regularly reflecting on my day has made me more aware of my thoughts and emotions, guiding me to make better decisions and take better actions.
9. Recording My Life: My blog serves as a digital diary that I can keep forever.
10. Vanity—My Own Publication: And finally, the vanity of having my own publication—where my writing is always accepted—is the cherry on top of this blogging journey.

But that’s just me. Now, I’m curious—what’s your reason for blogging?

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