Does Blogging Improve Our Lives?

Tyler Cowen asks does blogging improve our lives?

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I'm not talking about BlogAds revenue or better chances to write Op-Eds. I mean our lives. Ben Casnocha writes:

...I recently had a great solo dinner in Rome. I had a terrific companion (newspaper) and good food. About 1/4 of the way through this thought crossed my mind: "This is an awesome meal. I'm going to blog it." I did. I was committed in my mind to making it a positive night overall, and it did end up that way. In sum: when I know I'm going to blog an experience, I'm committed to making it a positive experience, and since intention and reaction mostly define the quality of an experience, it usually turns out positive. True, I could always commit to having positive days each day, but knowing I will blog something introduces a weird form of "public accountability."

Ben is an excellent blogger; here are Ben's impressions of France. Is he right about blogging?

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I'm not sure I ever thought about it in these terms before, but I'd have to agree with Ben on this. I got in the habit years ago of e-mailing out my journals when I traveled. Because I knew I'd be sharing my experiences with others, it definitely helped sharpen my focus on making them positive ones. It also helped me keep perspective and to draw out the humor and fun in a lot of the situations I found myself in. The same thing has been true for the photos I've taken. Here are a few of my examples from New Zealand and Australia, India, Antarctica, Panama, and my recent trip to Alaska (here, here, and here). Here are some examples of how writing has helped me keep perspective.

But it goes beyond that. There are other benefits to writing that would also apply to blogging (emphasis mine):

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Teenage girls instinctively understand the therapeutic benefits associated with keeping a diary. And now studies have documented what these chroniclers of adolescent angst have always known: confiding in the paper is helpful and healing, on both physical and emotional levels.

"The brightest spot of all is that at least I can write down all my thoughts and feelings; otherwise I'd absolutely suffocate," wrote Anne Frank. The entries, penned in a secret annex in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, became The Diary of Anne Frank, noted as much for the revelations of teenage emotions as the grim wartime conditions she experienced.

But does journal writing offer anything beyond a profound sense of relief? Intrigued by the ways in which psychological conflicts manifested themselves physiologically, Dr James Pennebaker, professor of Psychology at the University of Texas in Austin, pioneered research into the links between writing and health.

Dr Laura King, of the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri, Columbia, says only two conclusions can be made. "First, expressive writing has health benefits," she explains in the book The Writing Cure. "Second, no one really knows why."

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(Hattip Notebookism)

Whether you blog on your computer or write in your Moleskine, the main thing is to get out there and start writing! Here are some tips to help you get started. Also be sure to check out Strunk and White's superb Elements of Style. It can be found in both web and book versions.