Thanks Dotty for the suggestion - this post is about why I keep this online journal.

I keep an online journal to let my family know what I’m up to. I know my parents and grandmother read it. And I’ve seen comments from my aunt and my Mother-in-law a few times. I even got an email from my grandmother once complaining that I had taken too long to post a new entry. :)

I keep an online journal because I’m a documentarian at heart. Thomas and I both kept online journals when we met, and we’ve been able to record our relationship history through the years. And as an added benefit, I was able to learn about him by reading the two years of his journal previous to meeting him…yeah, and I still went on that first date.

I keep an online journal to make friends. It sounds weird to have friend you’ve never met in person, but I have a couple of blogging buddies that I follow well enough to consider them online friends. I may not necessarily know their real names, but I feel excitement in their news and disappointed when they go without posting.

I keep an online journal to serve as a refrigerator door. It’s a place that I can post my photos, and crafts, and stories about the cool things I do for everyone to see. And being able to have a place to post my photos has encouraged me to take more of them, and improve my skills.

One of the things I surprised myself with by keeping an online journal is that I sort of like writing. I’m not interested in creative writing, but I do take notice at how I write, and my style, and how I explore different types of entries. And then I read other people’s journals and identify what I like about their entries and try to incorporate it into mine.

The entry photo is one of my childhood diaries. I kept a couple diaries over the years, but never for more than a few pages. This one had prompts to spark entry ideas.