I've been writing a post a day since July 4th, 2010 (and off and on since 2008). The first thing that comes to mind is that a year certainly went by quickly. Then I'm wondering how long can I keep this up. And then I'm thinking I need to stop putting stress on myself. If I can't think of anything to write about, I should let it go.
However, after doing this for a year, it's hard to stop thinking that I need to be on this self-imposed schedule. Is this an addiction?
Well... I can't go cold turkey so I'm going to try to slowly ease up on myself. I'm certainly not going to stop writing, but I'm going to try to let a day go without thinking I need to come up with something worthy to blog about.
Let's see how I do.
POSTSCRIPT: Of course, once I've posted this, Art is saying, "Why don't you write about this?" and "Check out this article. It's worth blogging about."
Well... I can't go cold turkey so I'm going to try to slowly ease up on myself. I'm certainly not going to stop writing, but I'm going to try to let a day go without thinking I need to come up with something worthy to blog about.
Let's see how I do.
POSTSCRIPT: Of course, once I've posted this, Art is saying, "Why don't you write about this?" and "Check out this article. It's worth blogging about."
Oh Kay, it's just the teacher/missionary/caring person in you that won't let you NOT blog when you have something important or enlightening to share with us. And since you are an alert and concerned person, there is no lack of such subjects.
ReplyDeleteDaily blogging is a good discipline for procrastinators like me. We in the City Daily Photo movement commit to posting once a day.
But Kay, we your readers promise to continue to read and love you whether you post once a day or once a week.
You could experiment with this and see how you feel.
I've loved reading your daily posts Kay, but I can well understand that's it's both difficult to carry on and difficult to stop. Perhaps you should have a new discipline to follow like never blog on a Wednesday or something?
ReplyDeleteI think your readers will be happy to hear from you on whatever schedule works for you. I think it is amazing that you have posted daily for more than a year.
ReplyDeleteI was posting almost daily and found that my life had become too self conscious, looking for things to write about, so I changed to three or four times a week, and it's worked out quite well for me. I can write more often if I feel like it, but I don't begin to worry about a three-day gap. I know how you feel, though.
ReplyDeleteI'll echo what the other commenters have said-we'll read whatever you write, when you write it! I posted every day for a little over a year, and would still do it if I had the time. However, it DOES get difficult after a while. Now I aim for every other day, but sometimes it's daily, and sometimes I go a few more days.
ReplyDelete(I've found that coming up with a subject to write about can change a "ho-hum" day into something much more exciting.)
please don't put stress on yourself,, if its not fun to do don't do it.I'm one of your newest follower and would feel so bad if I thought it was a burden.Just write when you are moved to write,, I know what you're talking about though,, we feel obligated a bit,, not wanting to let people down,you share when you feel like ,, I love your blog and will enjoy it all the more when you do write.You have a super day Kay,, I'm so happy to be able to call you friend, I've enjoy you blog andhearing about your life , and Hiawii,,
ReplyDeleteyou are retired...I try to blog daily too and find it gives me a stimulus to be more interested in my life. Also somedays I'll just post ahead then I can take time off but it's true you are in charge of you and we your audience will be happy whatever you do...lol!
ReplyDeleteI have been writing my blog since Nov 20, 2006. When I went on my trip to the Big Island recently, I found myself writing several posts a day. That was exhausting! Since then, I have decided to let it go and blog only when the spirit moves me -- whether it is several times a day (when I travel) or several times a week (when I am not traveling). As I said: "When the spirit moves me."
ReplyDeleteHappy first anniversary Kay! I am not a blogger like others so don't have their wonderful advice and perspective to share, but I can imagine the stress and challenge it takes to write an entry a day. Your poor readers will just have to suffer and live without their daily dose of Kay's valuable perspective aka musings....just kidding, by no means do we want you to feel compelled to write every day because that can certainly become a drag. Let it be a tool in your life to help you organize your thoughts, record, and share when you want. I guess like writing in a journal. And most importantly, let it be fun! I barely feel I can write a public comment, so much kudos to all you bloggers.
ReplyDeleteL.
I am inspired and amazed at your blogging ability and devotion. Blogging is a personal act. Some feel the need to blog daily, others don't. I tend to not put pressure on myself with blogging because to be honest with you, I couldn't begin to write a blog a day.
ReplyDeleteTo sum it up: YOU ROCK!
Hi Kay! I love reading your daily posts. If I don't get to them each day, I know, sure as the sun rises every day, that you will be there. Can't imagine how you manage to come up with interesting things to write about so frequently, so I do encourage you to liberate yourself and skip a day. We'll be looking for you the following day!!
ReplyDeleteI admire you for this but I could not write a blog a day. I enjoy reading your posts, so interesting.
ReplyDeleteGood stuff!!!
ReplyDeleteI do understand how you feel but I've learned that sometimes I simply have to take a step back and take a day off for my mental health. That said, I feel guilty when I miss a day. Sigh.
Midlife crisis. Go buy a corvette. (that myth was probably started by GM)
ReplyDeleteI don't think Jupiter's orbit would decay if you didn't blog everyday. Maybe after remodeling your house, getting your solar system, deciding which vacuum to buy, which car to buy, what kind of trees you wanted planted, what color to do the mailbox, organizing the family albums, making sure the dog next door barks everyday etc etc, you sense that your life just needs a fresh challenge. Start with something small. How about world peace?
walt
It can become an obsession. I've been there, done that. I finally had to step back and take time off. As long as it is still fun it's okay, once it becomes work, you need to take a break.
ReplyDeleteI think you do very well, and as I have discovered your blog, I enjoy your daily posts. I think we each have to decide daily, what is best thing to do today? Sometimes I just can't get to the computer, and sometime, I am afraid I will overwhelm people if I write too often. I figure they can chose not to read my post. That would make me very sad indeed. Our motto should be, "One day at a time" I think. Dianne
ReplyDeleteYou have my admiration. I could not blog daily as my life is way too boring to have anything to write about. Don't put pressure on yourself to keep up the pace. Your audience isn't going anywhere. We'll be here whenever you decide to write.
ReplyDeleteI admire you. That is a huge accomplishment! Congratulations. But I think you´ll enjoy writing more, if you only write when you WANT to. I know I do. Hope to read your blog for a long time yet. :)
ReplyDeleteI look upon blogging more as a fun hobby than as an obligation. I have met so many wonderful people through blogs and have even got to meet several of them in person. Our present trip has given me a chance to meet one blogger friend and her husband for the first time and to renew my aquaintance with two other bloggers as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love to fulminate about politics. What better place to do that than on my blog?
But I do not blog or even turn my computer on on weekends.
Your writing shows no sign of burn out but it is your blog and you can blog when you want to. I tried the daily posting for about 200 posts and then dropped down to two a week. Ahhh, that felt better.
ReplyDeleteIt should be fun, not a job.
Don't worry, we will be here when ever you get the urge.
It IS addictive!
ReplyDeleteAloha from Waikiki;
Comfort Spiral
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Great topic. The frequency issue or even its non-issue is something every blogger faces in varying degrees sooner or later. But it sure beats all them "I haven't posted for a while now, because...." public apologies. As if the world couldn't survive without, or as if that wasn't already predicated on the apologizer pulling another hiatus soon there after, only to then re-post another encore apology. Arkansas Patti (above) summed it up, if there's no sign of "burn out," that suffices as a clean bill of health, and as you were, or as you like from there. Remember, the Internet makes you stupid. And nope, I don't want to elaborate.
ReplyDeleteI'm a member on 2 motorcycle forums and that consumes humongous hours because of the technical nature of the discussions mainly due to proof reading and getting left bolts correct from right-side bolts. In the process, the mental schedule gets cramped, and often the results are stale writing or incoherent posts on my own blog. So, I don't recommend multitask online writing in addition to authoring a blog. I started reading blogs around 2000 before photos were easily downloaded, however after the cumbersome bulletin message board period. My early experience comprised entirely of commenting. I never imagined that I could author much less maintain a blog of my own for a number of years. Since most of content was text back then, the authors of readable blogs were either those who were blessed with a natural "voice" for blogging, or professional writers who could churn out a daily post du jour in five minutes, while still managing to file in their columns in a newspaper, webzine, etc.
Your post are spontaneous and i have not even once sensed or felt that they were written under some stress .I have always admired you for that.Blogging is wonderful but it does get stressful for me at time .I think it is totally up to you how frequent you want to blog .We love you .
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, thanks Kay. Oh, another thing, (see how much I like commenting).... is that there's a negative syndrome to blogging. A blogger may imagine through metal telepathy, clairvoyance, paranoia, wouldn't want to leave out dillusions of granger, conversations with their monitor screens, etc, that their readers demand that they post daily or at whatever the established frequency and are at peril of their readers' disdain for non-performance. While that may be true to some degree, in the larger picture, you can't have it both ways. You can't want hoards of people to read your illustrious blog, but not understand their disappointment if the standard routine isn't followed or becomes abrupted. Fortunately, for the most part, though, regular reader, especially fellow bloggers, understand fully well that the author has other priorities to juggle around, and at times, that postpone or pre-empt regular programming all together during a busy period. What I was specifically referring to was the absolute gile (trying to be dramatic here) of bloggers posting .... "I got a life too, can't be always posting," or something to that effect, the demeanor of which I'm not fully capable of replicating here. To begin with, did I even ask that person for an excuse slip. Albeit, I haven't seen those flavor of absentee notices for a while now, but I still suspect a few bloggers remain imbued with a version of persecution disillusionment complex of their own making. If you don't post, you don't post. Considering the number of derelict blogs out there that have fallen along the wayside, it's amazing that we still have any personal blogs remaining.
ReplyDeleteWow, Ron! You are an amazing commenter! You have truly fine crafted your ability to bounce ideas off with people. I LOVE it! Thank you for all your good ideas.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why your other comment didn't post. Really strange.
I look forward to my daily Kay dose! Less stress is good, but think about us poor readers :)
ReplyDeleteNo stress, Kay. Most people don't have time to read every friend's posts every day. When you think of something...write!
ReplyDeleteI love the wart post. Warts are caused by viruses, and you can catch them from one another. Calluses, such a pain. Hope all is well...
Face it, Kay - you're addicted - and so is Art;-) I know what you mean, though, and it really shouldn't be stressful. You have the gift of making even small things sound interesting:-)
ReplyDeleteIf I blogged everything Barry suggested I'd be blogging all night (as well far too much of the day)
I too would say, it is addiction.
ReplyDeleteOh that is funny. I've been on that journey myself since 2006 and this past summer I've slowed down a bit. It is an addiction but really if you are a writer or journaler you should write everyday, practice makes perfect. So you are a writer not an addict!
ReplyDeleteI love reading your posts, especially the ones concerning your family's genealogy, but I know that it must be stressful at times to feel you must post every day. I have the little sign "Blogging Without Obligation" on my blog, and I take it to heart, lol. I do love reading the day to day things on your blog though. Do you ever wish that you could get a printed copy of all your blog posts, I think that would be great.
ReplyDelete