Blog Sugar Part Deux & Why I Blog

I can't believe I'm having to hijack pictures from another blogger's site to post for Blog Sugar, but hey, I've been known to do worse things.  I did get permission :)  I guess I was too busy meeting and greeting to get any decent pictures.  Too bad so sad. 

Friday night was the second installment of Blog Sugar, and what a success it was.  I volunteered to help Rachel with some of the planning this time since fingers were crossed it was going to be much bigger this time around, and we were right!  Blog Sugar grew from 25 attendees back in February to 60 just 3 months later.  I want to congratulate Rachel for a wonderful night and for being the brain child behind such a fun and worthwhile event.  I had a great time being behind the scenes and Rachel's back-up door greeter.  I think I may have actually met 99% of the attendees.

One of the activities we did on Friday night was take a few minutes to reflect on the purpose of our blogs.  I had spent a lot of time thinking about this in the weeks leading up to the event (remember, I had some privileged information beforehand).  I thought I had it all figured out and even volunteered to speak up and share the purpose of my blog.  The next day though after I was thinking about all the fun happenings from that night, I realized that I had it all wrong.
Why you blog is totally different than the purpose of your blog.

I BLOG BECAUSE:
I like to document our lives (not an original answer, I know)
I want to keep my mind and creative juices going while being a stay at home mom (okay that's a little better)
I want to promote my Etsy shop
I want to share things that inspire me, and maybe inspire others (that may be a bit presumptuous)
I like the community that blogging can create (this is the part I touched on a bit at Blog Sugar)

Who doesn't like to hear how awesome their craft project is, or how flipping cute their kids are, or how touched they feel by a post, or how they can relate to the struggles you're going through?  Like I said at BS, being a mother is often times a thankless job, so it's nice to get some affirmation that what you're doing is worthwhile, valued, admirable.   

So the above are all somewhat valid, if not completely unique reasons to blog.  But really, what am I trying to achieve through blogging?  What is the purpose of the 10 or so hours I commit to this thing each and every week?

And the only answer I can come up with is "I don't know."  I mean I sort of know, but not really.  I don't raise money for a charity, well not yet anyway.  I don't quite think my Playgrounds & Lollipops feature every week is going to change the world, and my day to day posts are not necessarily groundbreaking.

I'm not reinventing the wheel here in terms of mommy bloggers.  I know that, and I'm okay with that.
But for some reason, what I'm doing here in this little space of mine, just feels right.

-Blogging has inspired me to take up a hobby finally.  I now know how to sew because a blog inspired me to.  And it is now turning into a little side business for me, and that's something pretty purposeful right? 
-Blogging has pushed me to take a million pictures of my kidlets.  Before seriously blogging I was terrified to touch our Canon DSLR.  It was something only Art used, but now it is 10 times more likely to be found in my hands than his, and that makes me happy.
-Blogging has connected me to a small and amazing group of women right here in my own community that I would have probably never met if it weren't for blogging.  I look forward to getting to know them better.

So while I can't quite pinpoint the exact purpose of my blog right now, I'm sure that eventually it will reveal itself to me.  I will keep typing away, and wait.  I do know that when I am honest, or vulnerable, or maybe even a tad bit funny and insecure, people respond.  And I love that total strangers can relate and lift you up even when you didn't know you needed it.

So why do you blog?  Does your blog have a purpose, or a driving force behind it?  

Thanks again Rachel for an awesome night, and for giving us some food for thought.