The Nurturing Nature of Bloggers

Over 1000 bloggers and videographers come together on the 20th of every month to raise their voices for compassion. The #1000 Speak for Compassion topic this month is “Nurturing.” 

I don't usually publish on Monday, so my post is a day late. Other amazing essays on this topic can be read by searching the hashtag #1000Speak.

 The word nurture is defined by the Merriam Webster on-line dictionary as “the care and attention given to someone or something that is growing or developing; to help someone (or something) to grow, develop or succeed.”

Nurturing occurs between parents and children, caregivers and patients, humans and animals, young and old, friends, and co-workers. Nurturing can be a factor in nearly any relationship, and the examples I could have drawn from to write this article are endless. Instead, however, I would like to
recognize an important group of nurturers - the bloggers
who come together to talk/write about compassion each month.

It seems as though the need to nurture is a strong personality trait of many bloggers.  Blogs are often created for the express purpose of helping others.  As a new blogger, when filling out a profile that asked me to state why I blog, I wrote: “I blog because it is a creative outlet where I can publish my writing and photos, and make a difference in the lives of others.”

I became a nurse because I wanted to help others. Even though I am no longer working in a clinical setting, blogging gives me an opportunity to still care for and encourage people, in a different but satisfying way. 

Many blogs provide helpful-hints, tutorials, recipes, stories of inspiration and motivation, financial and health information. Bloggers write about the lessons they have learned, offer words of encouragement, and lend verbal support for a variety of causes.  We tell each other about time saving tips, and share website building tutorials that we have learned. All of this can be considered a form of nurturing.

The community to which all bloggers belong is a very nurturing environment. I am continually impressed by the immense amount of encouragement, support, friendship and knowledge that is a part of blogging relationships.  Bloggers get to know and care about each other through our writing; and we similarly often interact with our readers through the comments on each post.

Rather than feeling like we are all competing for readership, my experience has been that bloggers work hard to help each other reach larger audiences.  We comment upon, “like,” and share each other's work - to help boost each other’s rankings with the search engines, and to show our admiration for those other bloggers’ work. We look forward to reading each other’s efforts and we trust one another’s advice. We celebrate successes together and commiserate when goals are not reached.

If it were not for this amazing community, it is unlikely that I would still be blogging.  I have learned so much from these peers, and it is their affirmation that has kept me confident enough to keep hitting publish.  Blogger support and friendships can even reach beyond the web. I’ve had the pleasure of getting together with several bloggers (after getting to know them first on-line), and their online personalities have matched who they are in real life very well. 

I am very proud to be a part of this nurturing community.  The purpose of #1000Speak is to “flood the world (online and in real life) with an outpouring of positivity.”  Many bloggers do this, not just on the 20th of every month, but with nearly every post.

Can you think of a time when you have been nurtured by a blogger?

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog. Check them out!