So Many Blogs. So Little Time.

In my last post, I talked about distractions that keep me from blogging.

I follow a bunch of other bloggers. It takes up a good chunk of time to catch every post which keeps me from posting on my own blog. Also, the sheer talent out there gives my Inner Critic plenty of ammunition.

But I’ll continue to read them. When you read, comment, and engage with your fellow bloggers, you become part of a wonderful community. I think of them as pen pals for the modern age.

Here list of some of my favorites. Those of you lucky enough to be listed will reap the benefits of being read by my entire list of followers. That’s right – you could reach tens of readers! Congratulations!

My Underdog Blog – or How to be Bad at Blogging

Ah, a new year. There’s nothing like it for charting progress and tallying up successes. In the blogging world, it’s the time many bloggers examine their stats and reflect upon how well they stuck to their publishing schedules.

Unless, of course, you are me. It’s no wonder my favorite childhood cartoon was Underdog.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a blog! A BLOG??? (Only those of you of a certain age will get this reference!)

 

Oh, I looked at my stats all right. When it comes to posting on this blog, on a scale of “comatose” to “killing it,” I fall somewhere between “sloth” and “distracted toddler.” The most baffling thing to me is that I’ve actually gained some followers. And some of them aren’t bots, but actual real live humans! Crazy!

Sorry. Not sorry.

Well, this is a sorry state of affairs. I am in an all too familiar spot. It’s been ages since I published a post. Do I have excuses? Yes. Are they good ones? Some. Does anyone really care? Probably not.

I’m not just being self-deprecating here. I don’t have many followers. A handful of people read my stuff, and some of them are kind enough to hit like or leave a comment. If I were to go away for good, something might someday jog your memory and bring to mind one of my posts, but would you miss me? Hardly.

There are bloggers I’ve followed who seem to have packed up and left WordPress. Or maybe they’re out there in some new iteration that I haven’t discovered yet. If they resurface*, I’m glad to see them back, but they don’t owe me an apology. I’m not gazing at my screen, arms crossed saying “Well, well, well. Look who’s come crawling back. Just what do you have to say for yourself? This better be good!”

Most of us here on WordPress are doing it for the fun of it; for the practice of it; for the catharsis of it; for the whatever-the-hell our reason is for it. We’re not getting paid, and we’re beholden to no one.

And still, many of us feel the need to explain why we haven’t posted in a while.

Your day job has hit a rough patch (my 14 tax seasons at a CPA’s office qualify). Your three kids are in three different schools with activities out the wazoo. You’re in the middle of senior finals. You’re busy attending all the Kardashian baby showers. More than one blogger I follow is busy publishing a book. (P.S. I hate you. P.P.S. No, I don’t! I envy you! Please be my friend so some of that inspiration and creativity will rub off!) Heck, even if the biggest item on your calendar is rearranging your sock drawer and you can’t find it in yourself to post, guess what? It’s really ok.

 

I myself have been a serial apologizer most of my life. I have been known to say “sorry” to people who hit me with their grocery carts, or to start out confrontations saying “I’m sorry, but you really hurt my feelings.” So, if you feel the need to apologize, go ahead. I can relate. I will listen, sympathize, and give you absolution if that’s what you want

But, of all the things we have to be sorry about, not posting on our own, unpaid, just-for-the-hell-of-it blogs should not be one of them. I’m not doing it anymore, and neither should you!

Here are some people who really should be apologizing:

• Bullies and internet trolls.
• Anyone who sexually harasses anyone else.
• People who litter.
• That client who’s been ghosting me for the last two months, after making me think I’d be getting regular writing assignments.
• Whoever designs public restrooms without hooks for your coat and purse.
• People who take up two parking spots.
• The makers of the GMC commercial with the weird looking little kid and the annoying “Me and You” song.
• Companies that make you go through four different screens just to unsubscribe from their stupid emails.
• Whoever keeps shrinking “fun size” candy bars.
• The guy having a loud phone conversation in this coffee shop. Scratch that – he just got up to buy 4 servicemen from the nearby air force base their coffee. Dammit, now I’m sorry for not offering to do that myself.

We’re all human. There will always be something to feel sorry for. Save your apologies for the big stuff.

Now go and write something. Or don’t. Either way, you’re forgiven.

Yes. Yes, you will. And that’s perfectly fine.

 

*Note: I started writing this post yesterday and set it aside to edit today. Overnight, I saw that one of the first blogger/poets I followed posted after an absence of nearly years! First of all, I’m wondering “what are the odds?!”

Second, did he apologize? Hell no! A post published a few days earlier (and that I somehow missed) was a story of someone entering a bar after a long absence. Brilliant!

It’s a Blog Eat Blog World Out There

I’ve been temporarily sidetracked from chronicling my action packed (?) vacation to Maine by several things. I will continue with The Maid Goes to Maine series, but there is something else that’s on my mind right now that I wanted to write about.

Yesterday was a milestone for me. I keep a little five-year “Q & A a Day” journal where I answer a daily question. It’s a fun little exercise and interesting to see what has changed (or not changed) from year to year.

I love my little Q & A book!

When I opened it before bed to answer the day’s question, I saw that beneath last year’s answer I had written “Started WordPress Blogging 101.” I actually created my WordPress blog on October 2, 2012 after taking an introductory class at the local community college. Then it languished untouched for nearly three years. In the meantime, I received emails from WordPress.com and something kept me from unsubscribing.

Last year an email announcing the Blogging 101 class arrived and for once it was offered at a time of year that was convenient for me. It sounds really corny, but I had no idea how it would change my life.

I can’t recommend this free WordPress class enough!

Taking the class finally pushed me to write down my stories and thoughts – something I had professed to want to do for so long. But the anniversary (or blogoversary) is bittersweet. Yes, I am writing, but I have a long way to go to reach the goals I have set for myself. I try to look at how far I’ve come, but it is simply in my nature to be my own worst critic.