Blogging Crisis
I am going to break away from the RWC for a moment. Yes - it's true...I am able to converse on other subjects. And if you don't believe me...just look back through the archives to before June. There's plenty of evidence there.
I found myself this morning reading through some friends' blog - catching up. Side-note...isn't it terrible that we (mostly I) have found ourselves in a world that leaves us checking up on where people are at based on their blogs or Facebook statuses? I'm not a fan of cellphones and social networking...I really don't like to be found at all hours of the day but I would be an absolute liar if I said that I wasn't part of it all. I have a twitter account, I use Facebook on a near daily basis, my cellphone is my landline. So when I check someone's blog to see how their trip went or I get all snippy-commenty when someone doesn't update their blog enough...I have to think that maybe I need a little face time with those people...not blog time. Does that make sense?
Back to the reading of friends' blogs...there were atleast 4 that were apologizing/justifying/priding for not blogging over the summer or for six months. I've definitely been there - several times actually (see Hiatus). It's amazing to me how obligated we all get to posting. It becomes like an unhealthy habit...staying up late to post or stressing over posting opinions or topics on comment-worthy issues. I love reading my friends' blogs. I have some pretty spectacular blogger friends (who I'm not going to list here because inevitably someone will get left out who deserves to be on the list). Mostly because I believe that everyone that blogs is in actuality, a closet journalist/writer...we're all people who have this desire to share our ideas, opinions, ideologies, or feelings with the/our world. It's nice to read people's unedited versions of things...or maybe they are edited or maybe we're just looking to keep our own soapbox in a semi-safe forum.
As most of you who are still reading my blog (or stop in to see if it's about rugby and then move on if it is) know...I've posted a ton about rugby these last three or so months. There's reason for it. The Rugby World Cup is the reason. It happens every four years and I've been paying close attention to it. So I blog about it...and I blog about it too late at night. But I've heard this last summer several times by Followers that they have stopped reading my blog because all I do is post about rugby or the other comment I got was..."You should really post about you again not rugby". Hmmm.
This left me a little disenchanted with blogging. I continued to blog but there was definitely a little bit of...I don't know - discontentment wrapped up in the whole thing. I wasn't offended...really, there wasn't anything to be offended at. But it was this thing of tension.
Who am I blogging for?
Am I blogging for me? For them? For the dude in California that checks my blog every week?
I like rugby. I feel like I have opinions - valid ones - about the goings on of international rugby and no place to share it. But then what for the Followers that meet me here not because I'm a rugby player but because I'm not just a rugby player. Those Followers have come to expect more than just rugby from me. And THEN at what point does obligation to either just post for the sake of coming up on someone's posting reel or not have the stats/clustrmap suffer suck the life or joy out of blogging?
And then after all that...what do you say about blogging? Thanks for reading even though you have no idea what I'm talking about? Thanks for stopping by? Or just...be yourself and then blog about it without strings attached.
Like I commented on JB's post...I don't have answers. I realize that I have alienated some of my Followers who know nothing about rugby...and hang in there with me - the World Cup won't last forever. I did end the comment that I should just blog about it well - because all of us are just closet writers with something to say.
Much love,
[ bear ]
I found myself this morning reading through some friends' blog - catching up. Side-note...isn't it terrible that we (mostly I) have found ourselves in a world that leaves us checking up on where people are at based on their blogs or Facebook statuses? I'm not a fan of cellphones and social networking...I really don't like to be found at all hours of the day but I would be an absolute liar if I said that I wasn't part of it all. I have a twitter account, I use Facebook on a near daily basis, my cellphone is my landline. So when I check someone's blog to see how their trip went or I get all snippy-commenty when someone doesn't update their blog enough...I have to think that maybe I need a little face time with those people...not blog time. Does that make sense?
Back to the reading of friends' blogs...there were atleast 4 that were apologizing/justifying/priding for not blogging over the summer or for six months. I've definitely been there - several times actually (see Hiatus). It's amazing to me how obligated we all get to posting. It becomes like an unhealthy habit...staying up late to post or stressing over posting opinions or topics on comment-worthy issues. I love reading my friends' blogs. I have some pretty spectacular blogger friends (who I'm not going to list here because inevitably someone will get left out who deserves to be on the list). Mostly because I believe that everyone that blogs is in actuality, a closet journalist/writer...we're all people who have this desire to share our ideas, opinions, ideologies, or feelings with the/our world. It's nice to read people's unedited versions of things...or maybe they are edited or maybe we're just looking to keep our own soapbox in a semi-safe forum.
As most of you who are still reading my blog (or stop in to see if it's about rugby and then move on if it is) know...I've posted a ton about rugby these last three or so months. There's reason for it. The Rugby World Cup is the reason. It happens every four years and I've been paying close attention to it. So I blog about it...and I blog about it too late at night. But I've heard this last summer several times by Followers that they have stopped reading my blog because all I do is post about rugby or the other comment I got was..."You should really post about you again not rugby". Hmmm.
This left me a little disenchanted with blogging. I continued to blog but there was definitely a little bit of...I don't know - discontentment wrapped up in the whole thing. I wasn't offended...really, there wasn't anything to be offended at. But it was this thing of tension.
Who am I blogging for?
Am I blogging for me? For them? For the dude in California that checks my blog every week?
I like rugby. I feel like I have opinions - valid ones - about the goings on of international rugby and no place to share it. But then what for the Followers that meet me here not because I'm a rugby player but because I'm not just a rugby player. Those Followers have come to expect more than just rugby from me. And THEN at what point does obligation to either just post for the sake of coming up on someone's posting reel or not have the stats/clustrmap suffer suck the life or joy out of blogging?
And then after all that...what do you say about blogging? Thanks for reading even though you have no idea what I'm talking about? Thanks for stopping by? Or just...be yourself and then blog about it without strings attached.
Like I commented on JB's post...I don't have answers. I realize that I have alienated some of my Followers who know nothing about rugby...and hang in there with me - the World Cup won't last forever. I did end the comment that I should just blog about it well - because all of us are just closet writers with something to say.
Much love,
[ bear ]
Ah yes, I DO like being a stat. Apparently September is the time to start and restart new things... like making the annual blog-apology-i-promise-to-write-again post. You can read a little bit of sarcasm into that, but not really. It's just late, so everything ends up coming out kinda funny even when I don't mean it that way. Really, I just wanted to say that I'm glad I got some phone time with you recently so I don't have to feel like I only catch up with you via blog.
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