Blog Fatigue

I have spent so much time reading other blogs this week, that I have not been inspired to the point of writing anything. The information flow this week seemed to have been so voluminous that I haven't yet digested everything in such a way that I've been able to connect fully with anything in particular. There is also the thought that I would merely regurgitate something about which more cogent bloggers had already given a voice.

I've found that trying to keep up with the events of the day, doing the research necessary, then developing opinions I feel are worth posting here is an incredibly time-consuming venture.

One of my favorite daily stops on the blogging highway is at the excellent, elegant Body and Soul, where Jeanne recently had a similar bout with this blog fatigue:

In a way, all of this is blogging manna -- an abundance of juicy stuff to write about. But on the other hand, what is there to say that isn't self-evident?

Maybe I was just grumpy (my internet connection was painfully slow yesterday, giving me long periods to grumble as I was waiting for each of those pages to load, and it could be that frustration with Charter translated into frustration with blogging), but I started wondering about the usefulness of blogging. For a couple of years, I've been reading about two dozen left-wing blogs a day, and a few more on the right. I'm finding it harder and harder, as evidence of the corruption in this government mounts, to read the ones on the right. In the past left-wing blogs gave me information I would have missed otherwise, and made me feel that my perceptions of what was going on in the world were shared by lots of people. But I'm starting to feel that all we're saying is "Bad Bush," which is a perfect legitimate thing to say, but I'm not sure hundreds of us need to say it.

I'm not sure anymore why people write blogs, and why people read them. So I guess I'm trying to start a conversation. What do you get from blogs that you wouldn't get elsewhere? Why are they worth reading? Why are they worth writing?

Of course, I posted a comment in support of what Jeanne does. Her ability to cut to the bone (and nerve) of issues is very heartening. There are too many bloggers out there with hateful agendas -- kneejerk, divisive, thought-devoid screeds that do not cherish the experience of wrapping one's mind, body or soul around an issue.