My two teenage daughters put me to shame with their dedication to online journaling. They've been writing in their journals for years, something I didn't do very well at their age.

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True, I only had pen and paper and privacy was an issue. My diary looked like a classified government file -- incomprehensible due to heavily blacked out sections. I frequently wrote down -- then nervously inked out -- the names of boys I liked because I was afraid someone would discover my deepest thoughts and out me à la Harriet the Spy. The flimsy lock on the vinyl-covered pasteboard cover did not inspire confidence.

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Oh brave new world that has such technology in it! My daughters take for granted what I couldn't imagine three decades ago: an online environment with password protection, guaranteed privacy, and relative permanence. They'll never haul boxes of diaries off to college; worry about losing their past in an apartment/house fire; or fear exposure and acute teenage embarrassment.

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Oddly enough, although my daughters journal, they don't blog, preferring to keep what they write private. Maybe it's because I blog for a living.

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True to form, my blogging is not personal -- I write about women's issues for a website owned by the New York Times Company. It's a job that keeps my laptop next to me 24/7 because if breaking news happens I have to drop what I'm doing, open up my computer, and get to work.

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I wasn't a successful personal blogger before I became a professional one, and for that reason I feel as if I've hit the Internet equivalent of the lottery. According to Hat Trick Associates, there are 400 million active English language blogs. Include non-English language blogs and you've got one billion worldwide, the majority of them personal.

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If you're hoping to break out of the pack with a money-making blog, don't quit your day job. Over the course of a lifetime, you're far more likely to get hit by lightning. (Those odds are 1 in 6250 according to the National Weather Service.)

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So what drives these bloggers to keep writing and posting, day in, day out? Many toil in obscurity, attracting few readers and even fewer comments. Yet I remember my own personal blogs and the joy I felt when a complete stranger somehow found me, liked what I'd written, and took the time to post a few kind words. Even though I wrote for my pleasure alone, I felt validated. The unpaid effort I put into my blog was well worth it.

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In comparison, as a paid blogger I get many readers, many comments, not all pleasant. I no longer live or die by what others say. Neither do I shy away from controversial or unpopular positions. Whether you blog for money or love, if you lose your integrity you lose your bearings.

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Reflecting on the differences between personal and professional blogging brings to mind the philosophical riddle, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?" In other words, does a blog need to be read to matter? Does the power of a blog lie in the act of transcribing one's personal thoughts and feelings, or in transmitting those ideas to someone else? Does a blog have to resonate with others to be successful, or can it exist in beautiful, perfect isolation?

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As a professional blogger, I won't argue that it's not rewarding having a large readership worldwide. But deep down I know that's a function of the site I write for. Since I rank #1 on Google, Yahoo, Bing for the search term "women's issues," readers find me easily.

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But a certain level of serendipity is missing nowadays. In some ways, I miss the randomness of the comments from those who once just stumbled upon my personal blogs. I know the joy I feel when I discover a blog that speaks to me, and the heartache that follows when a blogger I've grown attached to suddenly withdraws her voice and stops posting.

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If you blog, know this: The tree in the forest does make a sound when it falls -- whether or not anyone is nearby.

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Some of the most beautiful moments of our lives happen in isolation and live on in isolation. Perhaps my daughters don't blog not because of me, but because they know a fundamental truth: what matters is not being read but having lived enough to have something to say.

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Thanks for reading JWorld Café, the Poetica Magazine Blog

Linda Lowen, Guest Blogger

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Linda Lowen is the Women's Issues Guide for About.com and a former radio/television broadcast journalist, producer, and talk show host. She is the recipient of several awards for her coverage of women's issues including the 2009 EMMA Award from the National Women's Political Caucus and two Clarion Awards from Women in Communications. A 16-year survivor of ovarian cancer, she is also a member of the National Cancer Survivor's Day Speaker's Bureau. Her website is http://womensissues.about.com  - Linda Pressman, Blog Editor