BLOGSERVATIONS
What is blogging? Why do we blog? Should I continue blogging?
Unsure of the answers to such questions, I have been doing some contemplating. Lizzy, of "The OCD Generation-X Liberal", has posted a "farewell" statement on her blog. Now and then I have considered doing the same, but I had not really thought too much about it until reading her post.
I am going to miss Lizzy's presence in the blogosphere. I know some of you would miss this blog of mine as well, but I have to wonder why I blog, given that my blog has fairly low readership. But would I want a large readership? Could that lead to a feeling of being more tied to the blog and the feeling of needing to post more often and manage it more? I would miss those who come here to visit and opine... friends have been made, which is one of the things about blogging that I like the most.
As of the time I am writing this, my hit counter shows 61,230 visits. I started blogging July 17, 2004. My thought is to wait until the counter gets another 38,770 hits for a total of 100,000, or to go for a five-year anniversary date of July 17, 2009. Given that I don't get all that many visits, I'm thinking the five-year date is the more likely time at which I will have evaluated things enough to know what to do.
Rather than opt out now, I will give myself the next 15-16 months to stick with it. That is a lot of time. There is going to be too much happening for me to stay quiet or step aside just yet. This time frame will get me through the conventions, the November elections, the winter, and Inauguration Day (if it is allowed to happen), and hopefully about six months into a Democratic administration. If the Dems don't win in November (perish the thought)? I will keep blogging.
I don't like feeling somewhat tied to the weblog. When I am away from it for a few days, I feel glad to come back and look at the comments and make comments on other blogs, but sometimes it almost feels like a relief to be away from it all for a few days.
So why DO I blog? I am not sure why. I enjoy writing, certainly. Is there any chance I could ever get any of my writing published? Who knows, but I wouldn't know because I would first need to devote more time to that writing. The same goes for my songwriting, and for my recording of my music. I am not sure that the time I spend blogging couldn't be spent for more productive endeavors. Then again, I sit back and look through some of my past blogposts and laugh or think, realizing I enjoy them and that I'm not bad at what I do here.
Even when one enters the sixth decade of life (as I have), there is always the need to prioritize. Blogging has become a big-enough part of my life that I will give myself plenty of time to decide whether to continue with it, at least in its present form, and to decide about its relative importance in my personal scheme of things. I have made a feeble attempt at starting a MySpace page lately, but I just can't get interested in doing anything MORE, anything else that would take more time than the time I spend with Various Ecstasies.
What thoughts do you have about this blog, about your blogging, and about your visiting of other blogs? How much time do you spend with it, say, on a weekly basis? Do you find that it gets in the way of other things you think you should be doing?
When it gets down to it, I don't see blogging as a waste of time. I have found that I enjoy it quite a bit. We'll just have to wait, and see what happens.
Unsure of the answers to such questions, I have been doing some contemplating. Lizzy, of "The OCD Generation-X Liberal", has posted a "farewell" statement on her blog. Now and then I have considered doing the same, but I had not really thought too much about it until reading her post.
I am going to miss Lizzy's presence in the blogosphere. I know some of you would miss this blog of mine as well, but I have to wonder why I blog, given that my blog has fairly low readership. But would I want a large readership? Could that lead to a feeling of being more tied to the blog and the feeling of needing to post more often and manage it more? I would miss those who come here to visit and opine... friends have been made, which is one of the things about blogging that I like the most.
As of the time I am writing this, my hit counter shows 61,230 visits. I started blogging July 17, 2004. My thought is to wait until the counter gets another 38,770 hits for a total of 100,000, or to go for a five-year anniversary date of July 17, 2009. Given that I don't get all that many visits, I'm thinking the five-year date is the more likely time at which I will have evaluated things enough to know what to do.
Rather than opt out now, I will give myself the next 15-16 months to stick with it. That is a lot of time. There is going to be too much happening for me to stay quiet or step aside just yet. This time frame will get me through the conventions, the November elections, the winter, and Inauguration Day (if it is allowed to happen), and hopefully about six months into a Democratic administration. If the Dems don't win in November (perish the thought)? I will keep blogging.
I don't like feeling somewhat tied to the weblog. When I am away from it for a few days, I feel glad to come back and look at the comments and make comments on other blogs, but sometimes it almost feels like a relief to be away from it all for a few days.
So why DO I blog? I am not sure why. I enjoy writing, certainly. Is there any chance I could ever get any of my writing published? Who knows, but I wouldn't know because I would first need to devote more time to that writing. The same goes for my songwriting, and for my recording of my music. I am not sure that the time I spend blogging couldn't be spent for more productive endeavors. Then again, I sit back and look through some of my past blogposts and laugh or think, realizing I enjoy them and that I'm not bad at what I do here.
Even when one enters the sixth decade of life (as I have), there is always the need to prioritize. Blogging has become a big-enough part of my life that I will give myself plenty of time to decide whether to continue with it, at least in its present form, and to decide about its relative importance in my personal scheme of things. I have made a feeble attempt at starting a MySpace page lately, but I just can't get interested in doing anything MORE, anything else that would take more time than the time I spend with Various Ecstasies.
What thoughts do you have about this blog, about your blogging, and about your visiting of other blogs? How much time do you spend with it, say, on a weekly basis? Do you find that it gets in the way of other things you think you should be doing?
When it gets down to it, I don't see blogging as a waste of time. I have found that I enjoy it quite a bit. We'll just have to wait, and see what happens.
