Power of Blogging

         I used to be terrible at blogging.  First couple of years on the team it was not a priority.  I didn't really know what to blog about, or where to start.  I was very inconsistent.  Because of that, I have no record of what my journey was like.  I didn't become consistent until January of 2021, and from then on I've put out a blog weekly at minimum.

          So what changed?  Well the biggest thing was consistency.  I chose a day to put out a blog and continued to do that.  Some days I still struggled with what to write, and some of those early blogs were pretty rough.  I’d written a good one every now and again, but had a lot duds.  The more I wrote, the easier it became.

          The second change I made was I stopped just writing about my physical training.  In the beginning this helped give me material, but if you hit a slump, which we all inevitably do, then what do you write about?  Since making this change blogging has become like therapy.  It helps me sort out my thoughts, gives me deep personal insights, and sometimes along the way it reveals solutions or answers to my problems.  From this my blogging really took off.  It was no longer about writing a blog because of some deadline, it was about putting thoughts down whenever inspiration hit.  My inspiration all comes from my Kung Fu, just not all of that is physical.  It’s in my day to day life.

          Lastly, I learned to blog for myself and not others.  It’s really tempting in the beginning to want to write something that you think others will enjoy reading.  Sometimes it will work out, but a lot of the times those blogs really fall short, because there is no heart to them.  Kind do like doing forms without any joy, they’re no fun to look at.  When I started writing for me I really found my voice, which is funny because I’m really not a talkative person, unless you count sarcastic, witty comments.  I have those in spades.  Now having said that, I am pandering to my audience in this instance, because I think I have something useful to offer.  When you’re writing your blog, just write.  Let it be messy. Let it be incoherent or all over the place.  Writing is a skill that like any skill will improve the more you do it.  Don’t think it needs to be grammatically perfect for you to publish.  When you’re training for your forms, do you wait till it’s perfect before you show it to everyone else?  NO!  Partly because a) they’re never going to perfect, and b) you would never improve because you would never have any other perspective or guidance.

         My hope for all of you is that you find your voice and find joy in blogging, because I really enjoy reading about your journeys.  It makes me feel closer to you and it gives me inspiration in my training.  Getting access to twenty some odd different perspectives lends to my success, as it does yours.