Jinked

As a result of not having much extra money due to my not-so-starving artist lifestyle and sheer laziness, I won’t be attending Blog Indiana this year. Come to think of it, I didn’t attend last year either. I was there for its first annual run back in 2008 when my former employer sent me, and that’s all so far. I met a lot of great people in Indy, made new contacts, made some friends. I learned more about blogging on the corporate level.

I guess a lot of my laziness and waffling about purchasing a ticket for BIN10 has a lot to do with the fact I don’t really blog to sell anything, whether it be a product, brand or myself as a brand. I do it first and foremost (as cliche as it sounds) for me. I guess what I’m saying is, I didn’t see the value of Blog Indiana this time around. For me.

I see you shaking your head and hear you asking, “Well, why don’t you just keep a paper journal then? Why do you bother to put anything online in the first place?” I do keep a paper journal. It’s a place I put things I don’t want to share. But like all human beings, there are aspects of myself I do wish to share. This blog is for me, to monitor my progress and ponder my future, but it’s also for my family and for my friends. Ever since I became that dreaded adult-creature, it’s been quite a bit more difficult to catch up with those I love. Maybe they feel the same. It’s why I have this blog; I want to make it easy to catch up with me, even if I offer only a story or two every other day about what’s going on in my life, in my head.

Maybe that is marketing. Maybe that is my brand. However, I could care less how much traffic this blog gets. I don’t run any ads. Maybe I’m a purist who journals for the sake of journaling. That’s what it was all about in 1999 with Blogger, Scribble, Diaryland, Pitas and then Livejournal. Writing for the sake of writing, not making money or resuscitating a brand. It was about connection. Making new friends. Life poetry. Catharsis.

Sometimes I miss the way the internet used to be, even if in my corner of cyberspace it was filled with all sorts of drama. But hey, what do you expect when you are 16?