Recovered from the Wayback Machine.
Anil Dash wrote about the battles he’s had with depression and encouraged other webloggers to discuss their own battles. Pretty gutsy thing to do, and smart — making good and healthy use of the increased exposure he received after his recent difficulties with the Little Green Football cartel.
Dorothea responded about her own fights with depression — not necessarily an easy topic to write about and the effort deserves quiet and thoughtful respect. And today Jeneane pointed to Anil’s suggestion, agreeing with his assessment that blogging can be good therapy.
I agree that weblogging can be cathartic, can connect us with others, and can open previously closed doors, internally and externally. However, weblogging as therapy isn’t for everyone.
The cathartic experience of writing our fears and troubles to a weblog can be accompanied by an increased vulnerability as we feel the pressure of such public exposure. And the experience of sharing our thoughts can be offset by the sadness one experiences when one reads about others’ happiness, family gatherings, companionship. Especially in the upcoming holiday season.
Ultimately, there’s the existential question that can take a weblogger down, and I’m not talking about web pages:
If I write a weblog and no one reads it, do I exist?
If this invokes laughter, it’s hollow laughter indeed.