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When I started this blog, back in July 2009, I was apprehensive about what I had taken on. To ease the pressure, I told myself it didn't matter how interesting or frequent my posts were because I was doing this to please no one, but myself. But, come on, who was I kidding? The hardest person to fool is yourself. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that this blog was just for me, my personality wasn't having any of it. My inner achiever wanted to be a premier blogger . . . which I'm not . . . . . but I wanted to be. I wanted my posts to be frequent and brimming with interest, making readers anxious for the next post, you know, like a magazine columnist or something.
Let's face it, if I really wanted this blog just for myself, I wouldn't have made it public. There is a school of thought that bloggers are a little star struck with themselves, feeling like mini celebrities when others care enough to follow our musings. I have to admit, when you take the time to put something out there, it is nice when it gets some attention. I was quite surprised when I got some followers and soon after, I became intoxicated with the quest for more hits and more comments.
Oh the comments . . . . bloggers love the comments; they are the supreme affirmation that our efforts are not in vain. Though my blog has a small following, compared to some, I was still surprised to see 50, 100, or more hits per day! The pressure started. I wanted to please the readers who had so kindly taken time out of their day to click onto my blog; impress them, and never disappoint. I tried not to let it get to me, keeping my focus and enthusiasm pointed in the direction of my original goal.
My goal has specific terms to keep me within parameters. I don't like to fail at things and I knew if I had an open ended, "once a blogger, eternally a blogger" attitude, my blog would join many other goals I've made . . . . . in a ditch on the side of the road.
I know plenty of bloggers who captured my interest and just about the time I became an official follower , they stopped posting. I like to finish what I start. Actually, like isn't strong enough language; I am deeply compelled to finish what I start and become disappointed in myself when I don't. Self disappointment is never good, so, as a matter of self preservation, I created:
MY PERSONAL BLOGGER TERMS:
# 1 - Blog for One year
This allows me to cover everything that happens in a year . . . . holidays, birthdays, etc. Most importantly: it has an end, so I can complete the task. I am not very good at thinking I have to maintain a goal for the rest of my life, such as: yoga, read scriptures, eat only healthy foods, watch less TV, get to bed early, keep my fingernails polished etc. If I tell myself I am going keep a goal, from this day forward, every day, for the rest of my life, it is the kiss of death....I may as well never even start. By the way, I am not currently doing any of the aforementioned things, and they have all been goals at one time or another. Point made.
I knew I could do it for one year, so that was the goal. I told myself I could keep going after that if I really wanted to, but, I didn't have to. I used this same logic with my children when they were little; and, apparently, talking to myself like I'm 7 years old works for me too.
# 2
# 3 Ultimate Goal
At year's end, print and bind the blog . . . . and therein would be my story.
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I recently passed the mid point of my personal blogging commitment.
I have relaxed my please the readers attitude held early on
and am doing it more for myself.
I am feeling pretty good about the content
and I'm excited to see it bound in a book.
I have relaxed my please the readers attitude held early on
and am doing it more for myself.
I am feeling pretty good about the content
and I'm excited to see it bound in a book.
July 2010 is the end,
what will I do?
Anything posted past a year would be a goal bonus
so, that would be good.
No need for a decision yet.
Just thinking about it, that's all.
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and if you read every word of this, bless your heart;
you are my favorite reader.
what will I do?
Anything posted past a year would be a goal bonus
so, that would be good.
No need for a decision yet.
Just thinking about it, that's all.
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and if you read every word of this, bless your heart;
you are my favorite reader.
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7 comments:
I love your idea of having a specific "end-point', where you can then bind your blog into a book of memories. One reason I've been lagging in the blogging world is just that: I don't know if I can maintain it every day for the rest of my life...but your idea is so smart. So I may re-think my blogging hesitation. After all, even life-long professional writers have writer's block, fallow periods, or need a break now and then...sometimes you need to take a break from blogging, so you can experience more "life" to blog about later...
It is interesting to see how a blog transitions and evolves over time. There is definitely an element of self indulgence in a blog, and it does feel good to know others find you interesting enough to follow, comment and read about. Even if those are some of the underlying motivations though, it does serve a higher purpose. It will be so fun to have your own bound book and an awesome legacy for your grandkids and great-grandkids to look back on. When I start to get behind on my blogging, that's the incentive that really gets me to stay up with it (and keep it as real a portrayal of our days as possible)...knowing I'm writing our family's history to save forever...the comments and followers and hits are all a very nice bonus though:-).
I don't even have a purpose or goal with my blog... I basially started it because it was fun to write about my life and see it on a computer screen with a real website address and everything. And then more and more people started doing it and ideas started floating around and now I just feel like it's an artistic expression for me to write and photograph and make pretty things to look at and interesting things to read.
I'm with Chrissy - I don't have any goals. It's a great way for our family to keep in touch, see what we're up to. I love it. I love your blog - I love reading your posts, especially ones about your past with the old pictures. It's neat to see where people have come from and what they remember about their childhood, etc. Keep it up! Can't wait to read more!
The main reason that I still blog is for the books. I do love to read others blogs, and share my life with family and friends, but it does take a lot of my time......which is valuable to me.
I'm fairly certain that when you hold your first book in your hands you will want more........and I certainly hope so, I love your blog!!
I have known all along that you planned to blog for one year. And I have really enjoyed every post. I do hope you don't just stop at years end. But if you do we all know why and when it will happen. And now we can all prepare ourselves for that potentially sad day.
Having a private blog is good for that purpose. I know that about half of my readers don't have a blogger ID to even make a comment. I definitely LOVE comments from those that can though. But the reason I am keeping the blog going is because so many of our friends and family aren't here to see what we're up to, so this lets them know. I do keep a journal, but I may print my blog periodically to have the pictures. Once my kids begin being the focal point of my posts I may re-think all of my blogging and try to post more often and systematically. Or not :)
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