Blog talk

Last night I went to a meeting of the Boston bloggers.

It's really the New England bloggers, since not all of us live in Boston. We've gotten together a couple of times before and it's always been fun. Because, you know what? We bloggers are fun people. Strange perhaps, but fun.

I've written before on the topic of meeting bloggers. The New England group shares the general blogger characteristic of being a bunch of talkers. Two things in particular seem to be the most salient characteristics of bloggers: ideaphoria, and an especially energetic way of expressing themselves.

Some, no doubt, would call us a bunch of blowhards. But I say no; we are intense and thoughtful, as well as articulate.

For many of us, I suspect, we've been this way our entire lives, and never found a really good outlet for the type of thinking we do and the personalities we seem to have. For many of us, I suspect as well that the minute we discovered blogs we realized that it was a good match. And so that's why, when bloggers get together, there's often a certain "here I am, with my peeps at last" feeling wafting through the air; a real zest and zing.

I've been a writer of sorts for many years, and I've participated in writing groups for about fifteen of those years. I remember a similar feeling when I first joined one: here were people who, if not of exactly like mind, were somehow of a slant of mind that was akin to mine.

This doesn't always happen in life. But when the feeling does come, it often means you're in the right place, doing what you were meant to do, with people who understand and share that feeling.

Is blogging a calling? That's way too pretentious a way to look at it. But sometimes I feel that, for most bloggers, we didn't choose blogging so much as blogging chose us. And, for most of us, it's a labor of love, requiring us to do work without a great deal of remuneration--except, of course, for the wonderful rewards of saying one's piece and even being heard and responded to in thoughtful and meaningful ways.

My guess is that many of the commenters here may share some of the same traits as bloggers: lots of ideas and the need to express them. And now, with blogs, we don't have to bore our friends and relatives silly--we can entertain each other.

[Whoops--forgot the links. Present and accounted for were: Sissy Willis of sisu, Richard Landes of Second Draft, Sol of Solomnia, Teresa of Technicalities, Harry of Squaring the Globe, Marybeth of Miss Kelly, New England Republican of blog of same name, and special guest Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe. Regretfully absent but ordinarily a regular: Daniel in Brookline.]