I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that just this morning a particularly self-centered thought actually crossed my mind (for some strange reason I get an image of some poor shmoe, clothes in tatters, attempting to cross a desert with no food or water while vultures circle overhead): What with all the memes, tags and what-have-you flying around the blogging community, I guess I’ve always felt a little left out that no one ever tagged little ol’ me. I mean after all, I’m a nice guy, use deodorant regularly, pay my bills on time, and small children don’t scream and run at the sight of me (at least not recently), so what’s the deal? Was it something I said?

I don’t know, maybe it’s the weather or I’m not getting enough fiber or something. You ever get like that, when feeling sorry for yourself for no good reason just seems like the thing to do? Isn’t it simply delicious to wallow in self-pity every now and then? (Gee, did I write that out loud?)

Anyhoo –

So it’s particularly ironic (which is an old German word that means made entirely of iron) that Ilker Yoldas over at The Thinking Blog chose today of all days to tag me with “5 Reasons Why I Blog”. Talk about lifting my spirits! (They like me; they really like me!) Like Ilker, I’m not that big a fan of some of those memes going around, but this one actually seems worthwhile. Thanks for the tag, Ilker; you’ve given my life meaning again, supplied my post for the day – and by the way, you made my week!

Well, let’s see, I know I had a 5-year blogging plan around here somewhere – let me just dust it off (*cough*cough*) and see what it has to say… Ah! Here we go – 5 reasons why I blog (in no particular order):

1. Curiosity – The primary reason I started blogging at all was simply to find out what this “blogging thing” was all about. Seriously, I had no clue, but it sounded like something that might be useful for work (and I’m still working on that angle, by the way). I figured if I wanted to intelligently talk about blogging, I should at least try it. To my surprise (and alas, sometimes to my dismay) I’ve been hooked since day one.
2. Community – You knew I had to mention it somewhere, didn’t you? Yep, being a blogger has provided a sense of community with an incredibly diverse set of individuals from around the world. And do I mean diverse! BUT (and that’s a REALLY big “but”) what’s really wonderful to me is the way the internet so easily eliminates things like distance, and geopolitical borders (at least for the most part, anyway). After all, folks regularly visit the Zone from all over the world (check the map in the sidebar), and not one of them had to show their papers! And it’s a community of purpose, too. We blog for various reasons, but most of us just want to know what’s out there, and contribute to the general pool of knowledge.
3. Knowledge – Speaking of knowledge… I like to think of myself as a fairly regular person (ever since that operation, anyway), and when I want to know something, it’s wonderful to be able to simply ask! Just the other day I asked for help in understanding the value of Squidoo, and almost immediately there was rather passionate feedback. (Try to get that kind of result from your local library!) Search engines can bring you facts (or at least, purported facts – you’d still better check ‘em), but they can’t tell you whether you’ll like something or not. The fact is, people love to be asked their opinions, to be asked for help, and for that matter just to be acknowledged. Blogging is one of the greatest ways I know of to accomplish all three.
4. Voice – I suspect most bloggers all experience a similar renaissance in some form or another, but I’ll say it anyway: I discovered a “voice” I never knew I had. The opportunity to just sit, think and talk (although blog discussions via comments are rather slow-motion at best) about whatever takes my fancy (and yours) was pretty rare in my life, but now I have a chance to regularly do just that. Trolling my favorite blogs, contributing a thought or discussion here and there, getting comments on my own posts – all of it helps me feel like someone is listening.
5. Satisfaction – You’ve heard the expression, I’m sure. I get a great deal of satisfaction from blogging about, oh, just about anything. Originally the Zone was supposed to be a business-focused blog, but within a few months it somehow morphed to something much more interesting; more akin to a coffeehouse chat in comfy armchairs, sitting in front of the fireplace. As to subject matter, if you’ve been following MZM for any length of time at all you’ll have seen anything and everything from Great Quotes, to innovative and unusual ideas, to the OOB series, plus some that defy categorization.

OK, there’s five reasons, but given time I’m sure I could think of more, although I suppose most of them would be related to all the above.

So now I’ll tag five people who I don’t necessarily know, but whose work and/or blog I greatly admire: Chris Cree, William Tully, Jessica Hagy, Pete Aldin and Chip Camden. I hope you don’t mind, friends, but would you give us 5 reasons why you blog?

(Image: Five by Tim Meijer)