I have been experiencing a late-twenties existential crisis of sorts.

What am I doing?  Am I doing enough?  Am I helping others?  Where is my career going?  Do I really want to study what I am studying?  Should I go back to school after this degree?  I don’t like homework, but I like school, but if I go back to school to study A, then I have to cross B and C off the list. What if I like B and C, too?!  I love Providence, but I’ve been here forever.  Should I move? etc. etc. etc.

Every BuzzFeed article tells you that your twenties are all about this mental turmoil and that things will work themselves out later on.  And come on, it’s BuzzFeed, so it has to be right!

Then I start to wonder about blogging.  Why did I get into it?  Do I have a purpose in blogging?  Has that purpose changed?  Is that okay?  Should I take a break?  How long of a break?  What am I doing with my life?!!!

When I first started blogging, my posts stuck to two general themes:

1.) It’s about dang time that we cure this disease!

2.) Can someone out there offer a solution to my insulin pump problems- because this whole “insulin-getting-into-my-type-one-diabetic-body” thing seems kind of important?

Number 1 still tops my morning and evening prayer request list, and number 2 has found a workable fix for the time being.

So, why blog?

It is difficult to give a canned, one sentence answer when someone asks me that question. The obvious terms of “advocacy,” “friendship,” and “hobby” come to mind quickly. But there is purpose beyond even those things.

When we blog, we keep the conversation going. No matter where we live, our healthcare systems could all use improvements. If we do not talk about diabetes, who else is really going to? Who else understands how it feels to rip a pump site out via doorknob entrapment, or to wait for a cure that has always been 10 years away with an automatic “reset” button at every tenth year mark? Leaving our stamp on (virtual) paper pays homage to this courage and comradery, this part of the story that may otherwise be overlooked.

So, why blog? Because #AllOfTheThings.