Day 241 - does writing make one feel better?

 Today is the 3rd day of the 35th week, the 29th day of the 8th month, the 241st day of 2023, and:

• "According to Hoyle" Day
• Chop Suey Day
• Individual Rights Day
• International Day Against Nuclear Tests
• Lemon Juice Day
• More Herbs, Less Salt Day
• National Sarcoidosis Awareness Day
• National Sport Sampling Day
• National Swiss Winegrowers Day
• National Whiskey Sour Day
• Potteries Bottle Oven Day
• Touch-a-Heart Tuesday
• Voyager 1 is 22h 16m 56s of light travel time from Earth 

Quote of the day:

"A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance with the need for illusion is deep."

~ Saul Bellow,  American novelist and playwright who wrote about modern urban life, and won many prizes and awards 

I was asked this morning if blogging was therapeutic.  There were two things I noted in my reply to the query:  first, this was a public blog not a private journal and there is a difference; and second, one result has been that my fund of small talk seems to atrophied.  

Have I been honest on my blog?  Well yes, but I haven't discussed everything that is going on in my life, things that I would probably include if journaling.  For example:  I haven't talked about the deep concerns I have about family members, or friends, undergoing severe trials.  I haven't discussed my terrible angst over the lack of communications from my kids, how that makes me question my adequacy as a mother and a human being.  I've also made the choice not to indulge in political rants - there are other venues available upon which I can vent 

Just as a side note, what we call "journaling" today looks an awful lot like keeping a diary, doesn't it?  I never did well with those little books with a page for each day of the year, but I filled up notebooks with scribbling back in the day....

I used to be pretty good at writing letters, the kind of letters that people seemed to like reading.  I found that if you waited to write when something important happened, then you seldom wrote, but if you nattered on about everyday life, you could always find something to day.  And when it came to breaking the ice by introducing myself, I could handle that pretty well too.  But when it comes to the casual small talk, the chit chat that seems to lubricate social interactions, I have always failed.  I like hearing about other people.  I like asking questions - but far too often that comes across as being nosey or interrogating them rather than evincing interest, even with family and friends, so I have pretty much stifled that.  Writing a blog hasn't helped with that, if anything if has kept me from writing long emails or calling people.

On the other hand, especially by blogging daily, I have obviously been communicating something and I certainly enjoy the act of writing as well as the feeling that someone is reading, altho it would be rather nice to get comments on the blog [I do get feedback, reactions, and commentary on the social media where I post the blog].  So while I would categorize the experiment of writing daily successful, I'm not sure it could also be considered therapeutic.