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<random botherations> I'm sure there was a time when blogging was just life-casting and there was absolutely no problem with merely giving a rundown of your days.

Many blogs are still like this, but there seems to be this growing requirement (although I think we often place this pressure on ourselves) to be intellectual, witty, relevant. That seems to be what makes a good blog. In the secular mainstream anyway. There are other blogging "communities". Christian mums is another one. Those blogs are cute and quirky, with endearingly-written posts about how they don't-have-all-together-but-that's-okay-because-it's-all-by-His-grace-anyway and lots of giveaways etc. In this sphere, life-casting is fine.

I don't have kids. I'm not married (some married women do the above, they just don't have the cute kid stories).

As a single person - at least on paper - am I allowed to merely life-cast? Or is it narcissistic, given that there are no other regular characters inhabiting my posts?

The truth is, intellectual, witty and relevant posts require thought and time. Many possess a stream of consciousness encompassing all three, but few are able to successfully convert it into a written form that is powerful yet concise. Call me crazy but I think writing a Pulitzer-worthy blog post is far harder than penning a novel. Or maybe that's just me and my lack of brevity.

I can give you details. But witty social commentary? A summation of what it all means? Not without some effort. And that bothers me, I have to admit. Many of us Christians still struggle with the whole "praise of man" thing; we still want acclaimation, approval, recognition, whatever you want to call it, for a talent of some sort (some of us don't even know what it is yet).

We may not indulge in unsavoury activities to get us there. But we, perhaps, work too hard, sacrificing devotionals, church activities, things that - in light of the eternity we claim to believe in - are more important than being "known". We let our desires for approval occupy our minds ... our blog posts ;)

I admit it. I'm 26 and I'm still learning to just. Be. Me To accept that this (whatever "this" is) is how I was made and get on with using it for His glory - not my desires. And it's hard sometimes. Am I alone in this? I doubt it. The idea of someone reading my blog and saying "Pah" or, worse, nothing at all, really bothers me sometimes.

But as friends have recently reminded me, the solution is to just keep writing. That's it. Just write. And let everything else unfold however it's meant to. Some day, some where, someone may find a nugget of gold in this desert of randomness.

And for that alone, it's worth pressing on. </random botherations>