I was tagged for a meme by Jim Martin where I need to write about “Five Ways Blogging Has Changed My Life.” This particular meme was started by L.L. Barkat, if anyone needs to know who to blame.

Here are the rules :
1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to the parent post
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules — or just have fun breaking them

I began this blog with the intent of helping me process what was going on in the church scene with the major changes that were taking place in my life relating to church. It has done that, of course. But what else?

1. I read more. When I began blogging, I naturally began reading more blogs, so I do more online reading around the topics of this blog. As well, over time I began to have opportunities to do book reviews, and have ended up reading some books that I might have missed out on if I hadn’t been blogging and gotten to review them. On the other hand, the list of books I want to read has still grown at least as much as my library has — I add to that quicker too, with the increased number of recommendations through the reading I do.

2. I connect more. I began linking to other bloggers, and they in turn began linking back to me. Since I began blogging, I’ve gotten to know people I would never have otherwise, and some of these have become good journeymates and friends who are as “real” in that regard as the people I see regularly. I have met some of these folks in person and look forward to meeting others. I have really enjoyed connecting with all of these, both in person and virtually, both well-known and unknown.

3. I share more. Through the habit of blogging, and perhaps in part because I have done so pseudonymously, I have begun to share more of myself than I have historically been comfortable doing. I don’t exactly wear my heart on my sleeve though, and people who think I’m still not all that transparent here may wonder what I was like before. Go ahead and wonder. ;^)

4. I write more. You might think this was obvious, but what I mean is that writing on the blog has helped me get into writing in other areas. I’ve written for print, published a little book, and have other writing projects on the go. Blogging over time helped prove to me that I can write well if I put my mind to it, and I can do so on a variety of topics over time. Enough so that I’ve launched into an attempt at making a vocation of it.

5. I have opened myself up to career options. I don’t make a lot of income from the advertising and Amazon affiliate links (they more than cover costs) but blogging has helped lead me into new career paths, both with my technology blog eight or nine years ago and now with this blog as I make new contacts which have helped me begin earning an income from my home office.

Now, who shall I tag?
1. Mary (Blogging the search for One Thing)
2. Grace (the former emerging)
3. kathy escobar (now that she’s subscribed)
4. Rob McAlpine (to remind him to post)
5. Brad Sargent (who blogged and stopped and blogged again)