My Blog Is My Pensieve

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Sometimes I wonder what got me interested in blogging. How did it all start? I love writing. I have loved writing since grade school. Back when my fascination with teen novels was in an all-time high and I tried to become an author of one. But to write about me and things that interest me? Perhaps a little back track will shed some light into it. Here goes...

On an evaluation at school, my 6th grade teacher complimented my essay writing skills and said that I'd make a good journalist someday. That may have inspired me to try but what I had then was a personal diary (you know pink with locks and all), and what you write there are personal documentations of your school girl life that you try to keep from your mom. It was a time when computer was just a once-a-week subject in school, the internet--at least in our household--was unheard of, more so a blog platform. What I also had then though was an ordinary notebook and a typewriter. I remember trying to write a story down (novel style) on my notebook and eventually typing them up. My character was always a girl with an older brother because I've always wanted one for myself.

Now on to college days. I discovered an online diary. One does not need an actual journal anymore. Instead, you type your story up on the website and keep it private with a password. Of course I was unaware of how easily online content can be hacked at the time, but for me it was fascinating. I might have posted one entry but that was it. Paying for internet rental was out of my weekly allowance budget unless necessary for school. When I think about it now, that must have been my first ever blog post.

I don't really know how I was first introduced to the term "blog", but I remember signing up for my very first Blogger account. It offered very different looking themes then and I didn't know if those can be redesigned. The whole interface of the platform was very confusing for me that I ended up having 3 blogs with about one to two posts in each.

Around 2007, I came across KC Concepcion's Multiply account. Believe it or not that actually inspired me to create a new one for myself because it looked very different from what blogs are supposed to look like. For one thing, I didn't know that you can actually incorporate pictures to help set the mood of your story. So create another one I did.

Then came the news of the late Francis Magalona's battle with Leukemia and how he documented his journey on his Multiply blog. That inspired me to do the same. No, I didn't battle a fatal illness. But I remember telling my Mom that I'll create one for myself to tell the world my story (really, what was I thinking?).

My blog compositions then were much better and it sounded like I actually had something interesting to say. However, I was what you may call a sporadic blogger. Unaware of how the whole blogging business works, I only wrote one post every few months. When it was announced that the Multiply website will be taken down, I transferred my posts to one of my old Blogger--thank God for the export/import feature. This was in 2011 when the new improved themes were already available.

gengcaperal.blogspot.com

Again I went on a hiatus. But with very valid reasons. I got engaged and got married! Then we moved to Kuala Lumpur.

The version of my blogging history may all be about the modern tools I used to write. I can't imagine writing down the events of my day in a scented notebook and in long hand anymore. But through it all, my love for the written word is present. Now, one of my blog's purpose is a Pensieve. Yes, the one owned by Professor Dumbledore.

Photo credit: Harry Potter wiki

"This? It is called a Pensieve. I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind... One only siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form."

--Professor Albus Dumbledore

And come to think of it, it is the Professor's version of a blog because he can invite another person to re-visit his thoughts with him. How cool would it be to own one if it were a real thing, right? But a modern day online blog is a good enough substitute. It does relieve you of those thoughts that are all crammed inside your head. And it does--at least for me--help you process ideas when they are all written down.

What does blogging do for you?