Why You Should Speak Up (In a World Full of Noise)

Today marks the end of my seventh year of blogging.

It's odd. I can remember reading posts by other bloggers in which they announced their journeys of three, five, or even ten years of blogging and my reaction to that.

I could never see myself blogging for so long. There was no way!

And yet I'm still kicking! *karate chops air* These seven years have been quite the adventure. I started out in the American Girl doll niche (a past passion) and now I'm writing about creativity, productivity, and making life what we want it to be (my current passion). So I guess it's true that people change and you have to go through a lot of trial and error to find yourself. That's lesson number one, friend. Make mistakes.

But instead of going over my blogging lessons, I thought today I would dig down to the core of why I blog. Why you blog. Why hundreds of thousands of people sit down and type away to publish something on the Internet.

I mean, why do we blog? Lots of people blog.

There are a CRAZY amount of bloggers, all writing about different things. Yet even when we look at the specific categories of blogging -- mommy blogs, art blogs, blogs about blogs, etc. -- there are still so many people shouting out their take on their niche. Some may even go so far as to say it's overcrowded and newcomers to the game will just drown.

There's a lot of noise on the Internet and in the blogosphere. A lot of half-finished, low effort, trying to get rich quick schemes that we witness every day. It gets tiring. Why would we want to contribute to that? Will people even hear us?

Why do we do it?

Why do we scream out when there is already so much noise in the world?

The same reason we post on social media where there are millions of others doing the same thing.

The same reason we publish chapters of our story on Wattpad when there are thousands doing the same thing.

The same reason we try out for sports or sing a song or open the door for another person.

We all long to be heard.

We long to be seen. Because being recognized in this noisy world is an achievement. It may seem impossible, but nothing is so.

We long to share what we create.

We are people and people love two things: creating and community. Blogging brings those two things together so that we can express ourselves for others to see.

We long to find our people.

No matter how unique the topics you write about are, there will always be someone out there willing to read it. I read something somewhere one time that when we were a kids, our mother's would tell us "you're one in a million" -- and if that's a true statistic, then that means there are at least 7,000 other people on the Earth like you...

We long to share ourselves.

...and yet your voice is distinctly your own. Your experiences are yours alone and your perspective is unlike anyone else's.

I believe in speaking up, even when it seems no one is listening. Because if you reach out, there is always going to be someone who reaches back.

You have something to offer to the world.

That's why you should speak up in a world full of noise.

A lesson God has taught me through blogging is that even if your blog reaches one person, that person is important. They recognize something that you perhaps don't -- that you're worthy of being listened to.