Why Blog???? Or Why Not?!

Being a newbie with blogging and wondering if I am making wise use of my precious time, I did some soul searching: Why do I blog?

Well, I like to write but having a full time job limits my writing to technical writing - reports, project proposals, letters. So blogging stirs have my repressed creativity. Writing anonymously gives me the courage to articulate ideas, convictions, impressions that I would not dare share with strangers one on one. I feel some exhilaration as well in taking this risk like in yesterday's blog when I dared to make some political statement. Quite tepid but a step away from political apathy.

And of course, I get a thrill from having my blogs read and commented on! Who doesn't?! Maybe there are- those who are much more self-contained than the average lot like me.

And lastly, I never realized how enriching blogging can be in terms of getting information in a more personal way, seeing life and the world through a myriad of perspectives and cross-culturally at that!

I wonder about other bloggers, why do they blog? What kind of motivation would prod someone to wrack his brains, bare her soul and expend precious hours blogging? Is there a downside to this?