I don’t know anybody in real life who blogs regularly, and I think that kills my motivation to write blog posts myself.

I actually started writing this post before realizing that a friend of mine has a blog, but in my defense he’s only posted twice in the past 2 years. I suppose that makes my title a lie, but I like the title, and the point still stands.

I want to build a writing habit, but it feels hard to get the motivation to do it from within myself. I’m a programmer, and while I’ve learned a lot from people online, the people who’ve made the biggest impact on me are people I’ve met in the physical world. Plus, I’m surrounded by other programmers; maybe that makes me feel less crazy spending all my time coding.

When I mention my blog to people, or send my friends my latest post, I always feel a sense of shame. Like I’m trying too hard. Maybe I am. I’m talking to nobody and have little-to-no audience, so in a sense, I’d have to be crazy to make a habit out of this.

Perhaps I’m just not surrounded by people who make me feel less crazy. I imagine that if I was making digital music but everyone around me was some mainstream profession like an accountant or baker, I’d probably feel embarrassed too, even though there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. But, if I was surrounded by people who also made music, I’d feel normal. Maybe it’s just the feeling of “trying hard to do something that nobody else cares enough to do”.

I’ve read a lot about the benefits of blogging; Writing helps flesh out ideas, improves communication, puts down what you are thinking about to reference later, helps connect you to other people, gets you into your dream job, cures you of cancer, prevents global warming, and saves the bees. But somehow, the bees aren’t enough motivation to write.

In all the blog posts talking about why you should blog, nobody mentions this feeling of being “the guy with the blog”. I imagine other people feel this way, which is why I’m writing this, I suppose. Hopefully I make writing a habit in 2023.