I viewed my life through the "bloggers lens".
Many conversations and situations were either deemed blog-worthy or not, and respectively, either found their way to my blog or were abandoned and forgotten.
In the year since I have moved, I have found that my blog is oft forgotten.
I can contribute it to a number of things:
The ease and instant gratification of having a facebook account,
The acquisition of a new laptop and consequently a loss of my numerous pictures (because it's just SO much harder to sit down at the desktop with all of my pictures on it, AND there is no easy way to download my pictures to my current laptop, and I have the opinion that you can only blog for so long before you NEED a picture or two to brighten the entries),
The loss of my anonymity amongst my readers (living in a place where so many more people blog, most of my readers now actually know me, and for some reason that intimidates me),
And finally,
I've lost my original motivation to blog.
I am a comment lover.
I am grateful to know that what I write has an impact on someone else, on YOU.
I read a few blogs,
And yet, I don't comment often on the blogs I read.
Call me a hypocrite then...I know I sow what I reap, especially on the comment front.
And so, as an aside, I have some decisions to make regarding my blog.
I can step it up, and put a little more time and energy into it.
That would mean changing my original focus from feeling like I have an impact on others and turning my focus inwardly toward my family and myself.
I can abandon it altogether.
(Ok--I don't like that option...forget I mentioned it).
Or, I can leave it as it is...sporadically posting here and there...when I feel like it.
Or...maybe there's a thought I haven't encountered yet...do you have a different thought that could influence me?
I'd love to hear it.
8 comments:
Hey Kristine. Found your blog through the grapevine. My motivation to blog is that it's my family's journal. So it's almost like blogging is a commandment. :) Then at the end of the year I print it out and make it into a book.
I'm with Lisa Marie. I love chronicling our lives and hope that my kids and their kids cherish what I've written. I actually am waiting on having spare cash available to print out the books I've made.
Also, I love comments. That is some serious good stuff when people actually say something back to you.
Recently I had someone tell me that they never commented on my blog because I never commented back. Guess I can't win.
In the meantime, I track how many readers I have and which posts are most popular and who comes back how often. It's almost as good as getting comments. Except sometimes I feel like a stalker.
Let's see, where do I start? This may require a phone call, but I'll try to get it down in this comment! :)
1 - I love your family, and your blog helps me feel connected to all of them since you moved.
2 - I don't like Facebook. I've tried, but it's just too impersonal and empty. A quick comment here and there, but what does it all mean? Most people I know love it, I just can't relate.
3 - Can't you use a jump drive to transfer pics from your desktop to laptop? I love to see pics of my kids.
4 - I agree with the other two comments about being a family journal. When I read blogs, I always think, "how great that out of town family can get pics and regular news about their families."
5 - Doesn't your blog fill your need to write? I love your introspective posts. I feel like we are talking and you do have an impact on me.
6 - I vote for more posts, but I know you are busy with family, callings, house chores etc. I can't imagine you have time to post everyday (my vote)!
7 - As for the hypocrite comment, yes I am. I tell you that you need to keep the blog, post more often, but do I have a blog? Hmmm... I'm just a reader and a commenter, not a blogger. Is that bad?
I love you girl! Keep posting for all the reasons that feel right to you. Oh, and also to please me!!!
Keep blogging because I just can't get enough of you:)
I understand about that anonymity thing. Most of the ladies that I work with at the elementary school tell me I ought to be on facebook. But, then my family life and my work life might collide (they don't read my blog). I think it was sort of like the shock it was for me to live in the dorm when I went away to college. There was NO place to go home and get away from the school people. I liked the school people and my co-workers, but I think everyone needs a place to . . . have a breakdown when stressed.? Sometimes that is my blog. It may not be the ideal place, but there it is.
And sometimes there is just a dearth of good subjects; not that I couldn't blog about something everyday. It just takes time and whether your family consists of two kiddos or eight, we still have to prioritize. Is the reward of expressing through key strokes enough to ignore the laundry or dishes or the whining child or the hungry spouse? And then sometimes, its that delicious Jane Austen chapter or the need to put up your aching feet that makes blogging look less like joy and more of a chore.
So, I blog when there's something that need to be said.
And whenever you feel inspired, I'll be here to read what you need to say.
The nice thing about blogging is that you can change it anytime you want and write as often or a sporadically as you want. Unless you are getting paid to blog(how nice would that be?!) there are absolutely no rules. My blog continues to morph and change as I do, which works for me. :-)
I have very similar feelings about blogging. AND I don't comment as much as I should....in order to have people reciprocate! The family journal things and keeping loved ones who are far away updated is one of my motivations. Another is just getting my thoughts out. I feel like I express my feelings much better in writing...so I enjoy doing it. Anyway...just rambling. But I do enjoy reading your blog, no matter how often you post!
My poor blog is so forgotten I almost forgot the login information, lol. I like the family journal idea. I'm aiming to have a post/picture a day once we move.
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