Thinking about Blogging: The Way of the Blog

"I have never had a teacher while studying the Ways of the various arts and accomplishments, or in anything at all" - Miyamoto Musashi

I don't take this to mean that Miyamoto learned from no one - rather that he reflected on what he learned and made it his own.
This is a man who also wrote "know the advantages and disadvantages of everything", "develop a discerning eye in all matters", and "understand what cannot be seen by the eye".

For example, writing this blog forces me to take the thoughts, concepts, and ideas that I've gathered and make them somewhat my own. Blogs are less cool than sword-fighting, but hey, I'm no samurai...

I was thinking about this today, because I learned a new term in class this week - "Teaching Portfolio".
It seems that teachers have taken a page out of the artists book and started collecting their work in a portfolio to present.

The thought is that a collection of artifacts (course outlines, photos of the classroom, student work, feedback, video, self-reflection essays) from the school year tells a more complete story than words or test results.
Makes perfect sense, huh?

I was wondering - How is a portfolio any different from a blog?
On this blog I'm including photos, reflection, outlines, and theory.
Maybe it's not different...

The interesting thing about having a blog (or portfolio) is the underlying assumption that there's something worth writing each day.

One difference between a blog and a journal is the act of 'publicing'. Because I've committed to this blog publicly, I have to find new learnings each day (never mind that no one's reading - that's our secret).

So it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
If nothing jumps to mind, then I reflect on the day until I figure out what I learned. It's likely that I would have overlooked that thing if I hadn't pushed myself to write.

Additionally, my sensors are constantly looking for something to 'learn' so I can write about it.
I become more curious by necessity (the proverbial mother of invention).

As Miyamoto said, "Never depart from the Way".