How do you blog?

I love to sit in the quiet with a cuppa tea, before anyone else is awake.  It is one of my favorite times of day.  Before I take on the day, I allow myself time to reflect, plan, question, mull things over.
It's a good thing.

This morning I pondered on my decision to give up eating meat, and wondered how long it had been.
Enter the blog search.
I typed in Skinny Bitch, the book I read that started my dietary change, and sure enough, it popped right up.  It was in April, 2009.  I challenged myself to not eat meat for a month, to see how I was affected by it.  When the 30 days was up, I couldn't eat meat anymore.   Yes, I said "couldn't". 
I tried several times.  I wanted to actually.  I didn't want the inconvenience of separate meals, and having to think so hard about what to eat.  But the feel of meat in my mouth was not acceptable. 
In fact, it was so foreign and repulsive, I would have eaten peanut butter sandwiches daily if that was all that was available.
But my point is, whenever I want to identify a time frame in my life, I go to my blog.  It's here, on my blog, my life.

That's how I blog.  I talk about it all, mostly.   I talk about what I do, where I go, how I feel.  I have shared with you the hardest times in my life, my triumphs, my passion.
I guess if you categorized my blog, you would put it under the "all out there" column.
I am careful not to upset family or friends with information about their lives that would cross the line.
But otherwise, if you stopped by the studio one day, you would pretty much find the same person there, that you find here.
From the princess and the pea Miss Puss................

 to the yummy French carrot soup I had for lunch.

To the shawl I have on my "to knit list".

Yup, it's all here.

Now everyone has a style in the blogosphere.  Some blogs are specific about a particular element in the blogger's life, like cooking, or photography, or poetry, or travel.  But I bet that everyone's blog is a unique reflection of the author.  Which is why, when we regularly visit a blog, we feel like we know that person.
There are some bloggers that I follow religiously, that I am positive I could sit down over a cuppa tea, or a cold beer, and feel completely comfortable with.
So how do you blog?

Do you plan what you're going to talk about before you sit down to do it?
Do you write first, and then add photos?  Or do you do like I do, put the photos you want on the page, and then write around them?
Do you just let the words and ideas flow, off the cuff so to speak? You start with the first sentence, and wait.  And sometimes find that you had NO IDEA what you were going to say until you see it on the page?
When you hit "publish", what do you think?  That you've just sent out another batch of drivel to bore the masses?  Or do you feel a sense of calm, like you just had a great conversation with a good friend, and said what you wanted to?
I have become very fond of blogging.  Oh, yeah, there are days when I wonder how long should I be doing this?  Is it still worthwhile?  Does anybody read it, or care?  And I think that my blogging "schedule" has morphed into my own  rhythm.
But overall, I find that it has made me a better person.  You know that phrase "does this enlarge or diminish me?"  Well, blogging has broadened who I am as a person.  It has made me many, many friends.   It has buoyed me up in tough times, and made me laugh at myself.  Sometimes, it has made me kinder to myself, picking myself up off the ground, like a kid with a scraped knee.
I think with getting older, it is so easy to turn in to yourself, and shut the world out, and go to a place that is sad and dark and lonely.
I am pretty sure that is not in my future, as long as you are all out there.
Thank you, for sharing this journey with me.