Should I Blog or Not?

As a new writer building a platform, or a new author trying to reach a wide audience, how essential is blogging? And I'm not talking about guest blog posts here and there. 

This question has been on my mind for a long time. Actually, it was more like, To Blog or Not To Blog? (Hey, I'm allowed to use cliches in my mind!)

Well, ideally, the answer is yes, I would love to have the time and energy and wisdom to share smart, useful, funny stories or practical tips, advice, experiences about writing, life and the world in general with whoever would like to listen to me on a daily or weekly basis. The truth is, I don't always have all these things lined up for me and so I've steered away from blogging for a long time. Why start something I can't trully commit to? Plus, I am a huge introvert and I tend to keep things to myself. 

The other thing was, even though I'm a writer, writing a blog post has always felt somewhat intimidating as opposed to writing fiction. For kids. It's more like bare-your- soul type of thing and not hide-behind-your-characters thing. Again, the introvert nature I mentioned above. Even this confession feels uncomfortable. But! Lately, I've been slowly but surely parting ways with a lot of "comfort" in the name of living greater experiences.

Some examples--and I realize I digress--in the last couple of weeks, I've summoned the courage for a bunch of firsts: I jumped off a cliff into a cenote in Mexico, snorkeled in a dark cave, rock climbed down a cave wall into the water and tried FIVE long ziplines through the jungle. I might post picture at some point... Anyone who knows me would see how BIG this is for me.

Anyway. This was about blogging. So what happened with my contemplating the idea?

No. I would not get on board. There was no way I could blog. Nope. Then, I accidently set up a blog page on my new website while creating the "About" page and somehow, I refrained from deleting it. In a writerly habit, I asked myself, What If? What if I do decide to blog? (very unlikely!) What if, once in a while, I feel the need to share an experience (people might judge!), or I come up with some wise advice (what? it's possible) or I'm just plain bored (almost impossible!) and I self-entertain by typing random musings (risky!) and release them into cyberspace? All valid questions, right? 

So here we are, my very first blog post out of my own very first blog EVER! Hooray! 

In the spirit of progress, and because I'm all about learning, stretching my mind and, at this stage of my life, conquering new challenges without over thinking, I'm glad I took this step. Now if I only click "Post" anytime soon... (Ugh. After proofreading for the 57th time I still kept finding typos. Seriously?! Where's my editor for this thing?)

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How about you? What have you done lately outside of your comfort zone? Please share in the comments.