I discovered another person to follow this week, and as I reached out via email, I realized this had become somewhat of a habit for me: writing emails to other bloggers. I’m not sure when I started doing this more, but I’ve been doing it more in the last year or so.

Other folks who blog, especially those who open up a bit more and talk about their personal lives, is something I appreciate. I know it’s not an easy thing to do, especially if there are some contradictions between personal and professional life. For a while, that was my situation as well. Not to say I’m completely open about my personal life on my blog, but in general I feel I can be more authentic there, and I’d like to think readers can sense that as well. I said before that blogging about blogging is writing about yourself; well, this applies here too.

Reaching out by email is something more intimate and personal than a comment. That’s because it’s a 1:1 conversation and tends to be a longer, more thoughtful exchange. I think every email I sent received a response. That in itself is a reason to write. People open up, tell me more, and exchange information. I enjoy getting ot know them, as a loose level of friendship online.

It feels like a privilege, though it shouldn’t. I think everyone should be able to write and express themselves online, but most folks don’t know how or don’t have the means. Owning a blog, a website that you have control over, is hard. It shouldn’t be.