To Blog, or Not to Blog?

This may not be the most flattering photo of me, but pretty much sums up how I felt a year ago when, as part of the Musical Inclusion Development Team at Northampton Music Hub, we were asked to write a blog each month for the Youth Music Network.

For a start, what really is a blog?  Surely I'm a musician, not a writer?

I'm not much into all this internet social media stuff.  My friends tend to be real people in real time, and they'll tell you I'm determined to fight world domination by technology wherever, whenever and however I can.  In my day, the equivalent of a blog was a diary, which we usually kept under lock and key, not to be shared.

Nonetheless (that's an old fashioned word meaning "however") I do accept that we are in the 21st Century, and I do have to engage with it from time to time.  Also, we have been encouraged to build blogs into our work, as part of our reflective practice, and are recompensed for this. 

So, several months later, I'm just blogging to report that I'm very glad we were gently encouraged (that's a politically acceptable phrase for "forced") to embed blogging into our work on the inclusion team.  Why?

• Reflecting on practice and discussing with other team members encourages an open mind, and opportunities for personal development
• Writing coherently about issues or situations that arise is a good way to consolidate thoughts and share them with others - putting things on paper can also be therapeutic!
• Reading other practitioners' blogs can give new insights into situations that we all come across from time to time, and can be a positive way of keeping in touch with how things are developing on the ground
• Blogs that stand out are memorable - those that give a sense of who the writer is, how they work, how they see the people and music around them - are the ones I enjoy most!

And of course, a photograph is always a bonus.  Well, usually :)