Why now?

Good question to ask myself. Why a blog? Why now? Why put myself out there? (this is assuming anyone would want to read what I have to say). It's been three years since I kept any sort of journal. I stopped writing a few months before my father passed away (more on that some other time). I just didn't feel like I could cope with everything that was going on and then relive it on paper. A strange reaction, considering that since age 13, writing in my journals had been the best way for me to deal. I used to write poetry, too (the sensitive, swoony, brooding type, what else?) and maybe I will again (how's that for a threat?). So, have I been keeping everything bottled up? Not really. Anyone who knows me knows I'm pretty much an open book. Ask me anything, I'll shoot straight for better or worse. But lately I've been feeling like it's time to flex that writing muscle again. I write a lot at work, (memos, a newsletter, emails) but this is different. This is for me. This IS me. I've had some encouragement from Mike and some of my friends to just jump in, go for it. I suppose I could go around in my head about it for days, but I won't. My best friend said something that cut to the chase. "The important thing is that you're writing." She's a good chase cutter, that one.