Blessay

I've been thinking about the word "blog," which of course is a condensing of the words "web log." When I think of a log, I think of Star Trek: "Captain's Log, Stardate blah blah blah..."  A log is a factual report, which is more likely to contain longitude and latitude than it is to contain mental meanderings.  In fact, here's the definition I found for log: an official record of events during the voyage of a ship or aircraft.  I'm not sure the essays that I write bear much resemblance to a "log," so I've decided to coin a new phrase: "Blessay."  I had to cheat a little bit to get there, because it actually should be a condensing of the words "web essay," but "bessay" isn't nearly as euphonious as "blessay," which carries with it the connotation of a blessing in essay form.  So, I took three words and shoved them together: "web log essay."  Besides, I do like the idea of a log being in some way a record of a journey, even if there's nothing much "official" about it.  

When I started this blog - er - blessay - my stated intention was to combine thoughts about photography with thoughts about life.  That sort of ran its course and eventually got stuck on a sandbar somewhere.  I haven't been very disciplined about learning and practicing good photography for over a year.  And I found that I was hampered by the idea of having to have a photograph upon which to base my thoughts, although I have to admit it was sometimes a good way to jump start creative thinking.  Recently, I decided to making writing a "blessay" a weekly discipline, a weekly adventure.  I might still use a photograph as inspiration for a topic, but I might just as well just let myself go where my thoughts for the day lead me.  Ultimately, I still want to go "Further Up and Further In."  

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way."  

Psalm 139: 23-24