Blogging is not for the feint of heart.

I have read more blogs then I can remember that at one time include a post stating "I promise to blog more often." Or something to that effect, I may be paraphrasing here. It demands a real commitment that is not obvious. Finding the time to blog, especially Mommy Bloggers, is difficult, because let's face it, life happens and it happens fast. And when you are a Mommy the days may be long, but they are busy. Even blogs created with the best intentions of updating and keeping in touch with friends and family, can sit idle for months.

Then there are the critics. Those who will read your blog because they have nothing else to do but tell you how much you've done wrong, or how you can do things better, or just that you are an awful person, just because they say so. People who can hide behind anonymity and apathy. Never mind that no one is forcing them to read your blog, they have an opinion on it and dammit you're going to hear it.

And the humility it takes to pour your life onto the page of a public forum is one of the biggest sacrifices I think bloggers make. When you are putting your whole life out there for the world to read, it's putting a piece of yourself. As bloggers we share the good, the bad and the ugly. And sometimes it gets ugly. Sure we may edit our spelling, but a lot of the time blogs are raw. That is the point. To share with honesty. Sometimes it's to vent. Sometimes it's to educate or seek help. It may even be to preach. Whatever the goal of the blog, you are most likely to be reading the honest thoughts/rants of the writer. To me that is what makes them interesting.

My blog was created for many reasons. It's a diary of sorts. Somewhere I could come and ramble on about the struggles of getting married, become a wife (which are two different things entirely, but I digress), adapting to life "in the Army", packing up and moving 860 miles away, having a baby, and all the while figuring out how to still be me while I'm at it. When I read other blogs I feel a kinship with the author, knowing the struggle it may have been to be able to sit in front of a computer long enough to jot down a compete thought let alone an entire post. And I hope that one day, my blog will actually DO something. Maybe someone will read it and be inspired to start their own. Or maybe a newlywed military spouse will stumble upon it and have some questions answered. Maybe it will connect me to others in the blogging world. Or even the real world. But no matter what it does or doesn't do, it's a part of me, and a part that keeps me from losing myself in all the other "titles" I hold. Because I will always be able to write, no matter what role I take on.