Starting a blog is a good thing. Not the hottest take of the decade, but definitely a piece of advice I’d highly recommend. Now, I think it’s important to clarify what I mean by a “blog” and why I think it would behoove you to start one.
What do I mean by “start a blog?”
Starting a blog doesn’t mean you have to start doing what me and a whole slew of other cancer bloggers are doing. You don’t need to know anything about building a website, graphic design, SEO, social media, or any of that other nonsense that people looking to make a career out of blogging need to know about. You just need to be able to write. Don’t have to be a good writer, don’t have to be funny or inspirational or any of that. You just need to write. An awesome place to start is where I started, at caringbridge.org. It’s a free website that operates on donations and lets you easily start your own blog page that you can share with the whole wide world, or just your friends and family. It couldn’t be easier to get started and it can be a huge help when you first start out on your cancer journey.
Why start a blog?
If you’re anything like me, when you first get diagnosed and people start to get the news, you probably got inundated with a bajillion texts from friends, family, people you haven’t seen or spoken to in years, that bagger at the grocery store, and everyone else whom you’ve ever met. Or maybe that’s just me cause I’m a cool guy, who knows. What I do know, is that when you first get a difficult diagnosis like learning you have cancer, the last thing you probably want to do is to have to explain it a million times to a million people and have your life turn into an endless conversation about the worst news of your entire life.
That’s where the blog comes in. Rather than having to personally explain to everyone asking exactly what your diagnosis is and your prognosis and your treatment plan and your feelings/thoughts/hopes/dreams, you can just take the time to put it down on paper once in the form of a blog, and then tell everyone to just read that to get all the info they need. It’s a great way to keep everyone informed, it gives you some space and breathing room to take the time to really digest the news you’ve received, people seem to really appreciate it, and it can even be therapeutic to take the time to write your thoughts out and truly reflect on what is happening. And who knows, while you’re at it you might even discover a lust for writing like I did and you’ll want to share your story as far and wide as possible to provide hope and inspiration to others. Or maybe you’ll hate it and you’ll think I’m an ass for ever suggesting it. Who knows. I’m not a fortune teller.
Either way, if you think it would help to see an example, you can check out my personal caringbridge blog that I’ve been running for the past three years to get some ideas or inspiration or what have you.
Happy blogging!
Are You For Serious? 
Leave a comment