I love blogging.

I love being able to form opinions and then eloquently (well as much as I can) share them with the world. It’s enthralling, and mesmerizing how a person can share their whole lives online with people around the world. The way the world of blogging can connect people and form a bubble around them, making them their own little community. It’s amazing.

Blogging first captured my attention in 2007. It was when I moved from the United States to India, and boy was that a big change. I was 18 and all alone in a country that I hadn’t called home for 8 years. I had spent all my formative years in the US, and for me the US had always been my home. Nonetheless, somehow here I was in a country that other people considered my home, yet I knew nothing about. I had left behind everything and everyone I knew, and it was scary.

That is until I found blogs. I don’t really remember how I came across them, perhaps I just stumbled upon them. What I do remember is that once I did, I was hooked.

Maven of Mayhem, AllThingsFadra, Bubby and Bean, A Cup of Jo, Cupcakes and Cashmere, The Blonde Salad – these were the first few blogs that I started reading and they have always stayed with me. In fact I have modelled my entire blogging style and plan around how their blogs influenced me at the time.

I fell in love with their honestly, their style, their lifestyle, everything. I stalked their websites, just waiting for new blog posts. I felt like I knew them, that they were my friends. I followed their lives; I was there with them when they were happy, when they were sad, when they travelled, when they tried something new, and even when they were going through something difficult.

I know now the negatives of blogging, for both the readers and the bloggers – the fears of over sharing, and the disillusioned and enthusiastic readers who get over involved in the blogger’s lives (Guilty!).

However, at the time, blogging was something new, and everyone was just figuring things out. There were no set guidelines. It was all new and raw. These days blogging has gotten overly commercialized, but back then (about 10 to 12 years – boy do I feel old) there were no rules. It was like getting a glimpse in someone’s diary and seeing their true unfiltered self that they are at their core. It was mind blowing. It was like they were my friends, sharing their secrets with me. And in a country where I knew nobody, it was like getting letters from friends who kept updating me on their lives. I felt involved. I felt less alone.

And that feeling has still stayed with. Even today, when I read a personal blog, either from those original bloggers I followed, or from newer bloggers on whose blogs I have stumbled upon, I still get that same feeling of not being alone or of being involved. I guess this is why blogs and blogging are as popular as they are.

Anyway, that’s the story of how I fell in love with blogging. I just hope that someday people will fall in love with my blog, as I have done with countless others.