Blogging and Journals

Spent this evening putting together some material for the circuit website about the various projects I'm engaged in with others. Just like this blog, the difficulties about what to include and what to exclude are proving complicated.

I have written a journal for many years; sometimes sporadically sometime frequently, but they amount to nearly four A4 spiral bound volumes. Into them I pour heart and soul, my unedited raw mind and emotion without worrying about whether anyone will see them. I find a journal a really useful way to reflect theologically on my life and work. It helps me capture the moments faithfully and honestly and encourages me to engage with God in the nitty gritty of my life.

This blog and the website are quite different and getting the balance between what I am thinking and feeling and what I can say is much more tricky. It is more like a cross between a sermon and a conversation with strangers; both require more diplomacy and a great deal more thought. This has the added frustration of not being able to gauge the response, if any, and explain any misunderstandings. I have no way of knowing if I what I may say is helpful or hurtful(not that I've written anything of interest yet!). It certainly feels more stilted and constrained than my usual more effervescent utterances!


I feel that it may never be a medium which works for me as I'm not this much of a public person. But as I do need to blog a journal for my course this autumn and I prefer to experiment a little before others start recording my efforts for academic purposes. Perhaps I will get more natural as I go along, I do prefer to start anything new cautiously until I find my feet. I've got out of the boat now I have to discover if I can walk on water! (Picture copywrite Rebekah-Joy Spinks 2002)