There are far too many things in my life that I don’t really need. I don’t need half the technology I have, nor most of the myriad of online services that I pay for. These include the hosting for my blog. I don’t need it really, but it serves a purpose deeper than the small amount it costs me each month and gives me tremendous value anyway.

My blog has been up for more than a decade (the earliest post I still have is from 2014) and it has been through numerous changes. The most recent of which was an investment in the new domain last year, but the hours poured into it outweighs the monetary costs significantly.

My blog has been many things over the years, attempted portfolios, business ventures and had any number of facelifts but still mainly provides an outlet for me. In theory this website provides very little to me, it doesn’t get me anywhere, my life would be the same if I didn’t have a blog, but I still want to have one.

Call it a hobby if you will, but writing gives me something that nothing else provides. I love talking to people on my podcast, and I love journaling, but getting thoughts to the stage where they can be published (even rushed ones) helps me tremendously. So, when thinking about things you need, it is not always a simple equation that can be worked out. Just because on the surface it gives me nothing in return doesn’t mean it has no value to me. In fact, the opposite, and I would argue that more people should have one.

The benefits of it run far deeper than the sum of its parts. No person should judge their blog based on the number of views the posts get because it always serves a different purpose. It allows you to publish whatever it is you want to publish, get it out of your brain and own it from start to end. I don’t need a blog, but everyone should have one.