Blog more. It is good for your health

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Ricardo| 92 Comments

Blogging/writing is good for your health. If nothing else, you should write just because of that. Thankfully there are many other reasons why people write and if you don’t have one yet, improving your health should be enough reason to do it.
Many people don’t write because they don’t know what to write about, or feel like it will be a waste of time, they are wrong. Writing is both enjoyable and healthy not because of the words you write but because of the process you go through to come up with the words you are going to type. Austin Gunter from TechRanch Austin tweeted “Writing really helps. It’s like Airborne for the heart.” I agree.
Writing is therapeutic. I agree with Miguel de Cervantes‘ quote: “The pen is the tongue of the mind” and this can be both good and bad, this could get you in trouble if you are not careful about the topics you write about. However, the therapeutic value will be there, always. For some, writing is a way to communicate ideas and thoughts with others in a very comfortable way… because you can read, edit, read again and edit one more time before you share it with others, you just don’t have that benefit when you are talking. So yes, the pen is the tongue of the mind but is under much more control than the mouth itself.
Writing is also one of the few if not the only way of communication that allows you to edit until you get it right. It is also the best way to create a legacy that is more permanent than almost anything else, what other legacy can you create that is as permanent as the written word? If you are writing a piece of fiction, writing  is a medium that allows you to get into another world, create and control different characters, resolve issues that in the real world may seem impossible to work out, etc. Writing (and reading) fiction is a great way to escape from reality, and you don’t need any chemical substances to experience it… see, it is healthier and safer than drugs!
Writing posts in a blog, gives you the opportunity to save your thoughts, experiences and learnings in a very organized way, and the best of all is that it is searchable! and you can also access  your blog posts from almost anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. These days, it is difficult to find a place without an internet connection of some sort, I am writing this post as I commute in the Metro Rail from downtown Austin to the north suburbs.
Having a personal blog is a great way to write more, the cool thing is that you can write about whatever you want, it is your blog. For example, I have another blog which I mostly use to write about coding techniques, code examples, code issues, .NET related topics (yes, I am primarily a .NET developer), etc… you can write about what YOU are interested on, just write! you’ll feel better and might learn a few things in the process, I know I have.
The scientific details about why writing is healthy are here in case you are interested in some scientific research about this. However, just start writing about something, anything and don’t let the lack of a topic be what stops you from writing, just open a text editor (or pen and paper if you like) and start writing whatever words come to mind. Write about your job, about your hobbies, a novel, whatever, just write and don’t worry about the grammatical errors, or if the topic is interesting or not… who cares! the initial goal is just to write about something and experience the benefits of doing so.
If you don’t have a blog yet, create one, it is free and it takes minutes to set it up. There are many excellent blog applications out there that will help you get going in no time. And if you want to write something a little longer than a blog post, perhaps a book, then all you need is already in your computer, you just need a text editor and your favorite beverage to accompany you while you write that master piece. Write, have fun and improve your health.
Writing comments is also writing after all, if you want to start writing as soon as possible, I invite you to write your comments and to tell us about the techniques and motivation you have to write more, and more often. Cheers.