There are a variety of motives for starting a blog. When Googling “reasons for writing a blog,” you will find numerous blog posts. Since that is the case, why would I choose to write such an article? Because, although there are lots of justifications for anyone thinking about a creating a blog, I wanted to share my personal reasons as part of my process of accountability. Plus, sometimes just putting things in writing sets my brain up for action.
Action and accountability are the first and most important on my personal list. I desire to stay on task, both with dog training and my writing practice. Becoming a service dog or finishing a book does not happen without a great deal of commitment, time, effort, and perseverance. The journey can seem an uphill battle, at times. It is easy to give up, get distracted, and lose your way.
My current Work in Progress (WIP) has been challenging. As a green writer, it was helpful to be in a large community. It brought my writing skills and ideas to new expansive places. I had no idea how to even begin. Now, I have a concrete, flexible plan moving forward. But without responsibility and accountability, plans can easily get tossed aside. This blog will provide the structure to keep me on the path towards achieving my goals.
Since writing and owner training service dogs can be a lonely process, blogging is a way to reach out, build community, and even organize and expand knowledge of resources. Whether confused about why something is not working with dog training or struggling with story flow and writing craft, being part of a larger community helps me find my way. Sometimes even helping another person brings new insights or reminds me of techniques I have forgotten. Gathering together to share experiences, tips, and tricks we’ve learned along the way, or even writing time on zoom, can improve ourselves and change the world.
Once creating the space and your the cheerleader squad, the best way one can improve at any skill is practice. Practice, practice, practice. Blogging is a great way to practice writing while sharing stories, educating others, and building community.
While practicing, I can share stories about all of the incredible dogs I have met along my journey. I can tell others of the ups and downs in their training adventures and things I learned along the way. Maybe, I can help others avoid mishaps since I learned many things by trail and error. I can show you how my fur balls became my muses, inspiring me keep going, living, and creating. Dogs light up my life and I hope they can brighten up others, too.
In sharing the dog stories, I hope to educate others all about service dogs and the service dog lifestyle, including the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), the dog training involved, and all the potential tasks Service Dogs can do. The field is learning more ways everyday about how dogs can be of service as we continue to collaborate and bond with these incredible creatures.
By sharing my writing practice and process, I can demonstrate how I continue to motivate myself and how to balance writing with living with chronic illness. My persistent and consistent nature has served me well in achieving goals. It can, also, get in the way of self care when I focus only only accomplishment and forget to check in with my body.
By sharing, I am also documenting and keeping track of current dog training and writing activity, including our accomplishments, progress towards goals, obstacles and solutions found along the way, and fine-tuning of methods for better future results.
Documenting is my way of laughing in the face of illness and death. By confronting my fears and exploring coping strategies for living with chronic conditions, I am living in the moment, instead of letting my fears get the better of me. Will I will run out of time before I complete my projects? What if I end up bed-bound and unable to move? What if my service dog/s die before I train another? What if my body limitations interfere with writing and dog training? I do not know the answers to these questions. But, I know by doing nothing I might as well give up. I am not giving up. Instead I am going to blog in the moment.
Lastly, this blog is my place to organize thoughts, learn new skills, tell my story, and hopefully make a contribution to the collective in the process.