Blog Reflection... final post of the year!

When I first created my blog, I chose the name "Stories Are Light" because this was a line from one of my all time favorite books, The Tale of Despereaux  by Kate DiCamillo. My mom read this book to me a couple years ago, and every night we would read a couple chapters, and talk about the book-- something we haven't done together in a really long time. Keeping this blog made me motivated about reading, and really encouraged me to think deeper and push myself as much as I could. 
Keeping a blog throughout the year has been a really interesting experience and forced me to really understand and analyze the books I read. In the past, I realized that as a reader I don't always pay as much attention to my books as a should. Before this year, sometimes I would read a chapter and have no idea what had happened and not had the attention or motivation to go back and reread. But this year books have really come alive to me, and I've felt this amazing feeling of wanting to read and just sit down with my book instead of watching TV or something else. This experience has benefited me so much because I have learned to care about what I'm reading-- about the characters, the writing stye, the plot arch, etc. Through this blog I have appreciated and enjoyed books like never before, and that skill of being able to read challenging books and still think deeply about them is so important for high school and the rest of my life.
I think that writing online allows us to edit our work, and make it sound just the way we want to. In this way, sometimes people online can be very fake. This doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing in my opinion; sometimes it can be great to be fake! :) Sometimes being able to not be yourself and to project who you want to be can be an outlet or an opportunity for you to thrive. But I do think that sometimes this can be negative, and sometimes people abuse the freedom that being online gives you. Just because you can be fake doesn't mean you should. People a lot of the times form relationships over an online site like Facebook and say things that they wouldn't have the courage to say to someone's face. That again can be good and bad, because maybe you're less shy online, but having a friendship strictly through text or Facebook is unhealthy and wrong, because you really don't know that person the way you should know a true friend. 
I could see myself blogging on this blog in the future-- maybe a little less frequently though. I definitely can see myself writing a post after I finish a book, just to make sure I was paying attention and actually thinking about what I was reading. I don't really see myself as having a blog when I grow up-- one where I just put my opinions out. For me, I don't completely feel comfortable letting anybody in the world hear what I have to say. Maybe if I become really passionate about one particular topic…
Overall, although I would sometimes dread every other Thursday night where I knew I would have to be writing a post, it was a good experience. Around January I really started to not mind the constant posts, and it became so natural writing them. I was worried less about making them perfect, and focused more on saying the most intelligent thoughts and ideas I could. This has been a great experience, and I do think some people are going to take this experience and become big bloggers when they grow up (it's a great way to express yourself and let other people make connections to you)… but I don't think I could create a lifestyle of blogging.