This morning I woke up sad,  but couldn’t put my finger on why. We’re all healthy, work is good, life is great. So what was it?

Dooce.

Let me back up.

I couldn’t fall asleep last night, and had resorted to my google reader on my phone so that I wouldn’t wake up Jackson with the reading light.

As I meandered through world news, fashion photos, DIY crafts that I save but will never do, and celebrity gossip, I came upon this post.

I’ve read Heather’s blog, Dooce, for years now. Back when she and her self-proclaimed dorky best friend/husband had their first child, dealt with post-partum depression, starting blogging full-time, working together, renovating their home, buying a new one, battling depression, having a second child, and the stories of their crazy dogs.

I’ve come to care about what happens in her life and her family much the way I would about a friend of my own, and over the years I have related to so much she’s written about. Life/work balance, having a drug-free natural birth, and more.

So while it sounds crazy because I’ve never met her before, I feel connected to her story, and her world, because she opens it up for the rest of us to see. Writing through a blog has been called many things…selfish, narcissistic, therapeutic, community-building, open, judgemental, and so much more.

For me, it has allowed me to write down what I’m thinking through and learning on a daily basis, and to learn from others. And when those others encounter something that you didn’t see coming, like a separation in a marriage or thoughts of suicide, it throws you for a loop.

Even if you’ve never met that person. You can still care.