Blogging as Therapy

 It does my soul good to blog my thoughts. A diary is helpful but if someone can find and see a reflection in their own life, and work through stuff as I do, then it's better than a diary.

A sign on one of my doors says "I'm not saying it's going to be easy, I'm saying it's going to be worth it." That's worth remembering when a day feels like it may not be worth much. In time I may see the worthiness of whatever's happening but I can pretty much say at the time, not so much. 

So, I move forward the best I can...one step, one step, one step. It's made me see small things I would have missed otherwise such as how a gourd seedling will stand up to attention after wilting once watered. Really, you can watch that happen!  It's slow, but when life needs to be slow, watching without a timetable allows the freedom for observation, careful slow observation.

I hope you get to observe some small event today with no agenda or purpose. Just watch and take note.

Displaying the Idea

The idea behind this exploration about blogs and blogging is communication, some good, some perhaps not so good. Sometimes a blog can be informative and interesting, especially if the reader already has an interest in the topic. Such is the case with CrackledApples, a blog about newly discovered information about gourds and new things to do with a gourd. Some blogs become blatherings of people who probably need to see a therapist and the blog is a venting tool. However, there is value in that too -- where feelings are vented and maybe even come full circle to OKness again.

All blogs about nothing, are really about something. So, even when a reader expects blah, blah, blah, the nothingness actually become something. The idea intended for nothingness grows into interesting-ness.

Every time.

Would that be true for any reader, or just for people who like to read?

Blogger Demographics

As it turns out, there IS a source for Blogger demographics, Sysomos. However, the website shows some demographic information as of June 2010, but not a total number of blogs. From the previous information found about blog statistics, we saw that a LOT has happened in the world of blogs since 2010.

Having said that, in 2010 Blogger's demographic was almost 1/2-1/2 male-female, unlike the other blog sites that reported a mostly male gender distribution.

Number of Blogs

When the question was asked "How many blogs ARE there?", I was expecting to find something. However I did not expect to find the incredible amount of data that has been collected and analyzed about the topic! Technorati has done what I could only imagine in its State of the Blogosphere 2010. At that time, there were 275,000 new posts made every day. When the Worldometer Blogging Statistics page is visited today, the rolling counter would suggest there are 1,000 new posts per 18 seconds (roughly timed with an iPhone stopwatch app). That would be about 4,800,000 new posts every day (roughly)...a whopping 1,645% increase in the last 5 years!

In 2010, most bloggists were hobbyists, 2/3 are male, and professionals tend to have 3.2 blogs. [3.2?...like they started one and did not make to the first post? No, I know that is an average..I am toying with my readers!]  These reflect my experience to some degree -- I am a hobbyist of sorts, am professional, not a male but I have 11 blogs. Some blogs I actively touch every day, some are more reflective and get my attention once or twice a quarter, depending on my experiences and research. [I must be part of the .2 blog average!]

Eric Pangburn reports the numbers of blogs on the various blogging websites - Tumblr, WordPress, LiveJournal, Weebly, and Blogster. He says he cannot find definitive numbers for Blogger -- my favorite blogging tool for home and school. Mr. Pangburn makes a point when he states the numbers are misleading because they grow every day. The number of blogs is dynamic!

Falling in Love

Sonia Simone wrote an article for CopyBlogger, a marketing company, called 7 Tips for Falling in Love with Your Blog All Over Again. Her opening quote is a couple lines from the Righteous Brothers song, You've Lost That Loving Feeling, which makes the point that after a while a blog loses its allure, its pizzazz, its limit for value. Or does it? Some blogs I have get shelved for a while I think about other things, but then inspiration will hit me and off we go.

Ms. Simone's suggestions number seven and begin with learning. She states the brain cannot absorb information all at once, but needs time for digesting news. That must be what I do.

Other suggestions for maintaining that loving feeling are:
- offer a Q&A session where you get questions you may not have thought about, and can consider
- make some connections by reading others' blogs and linking back and forth to interesting information
- present your core values (not blahblahblah sugary things, but deeply held reflections)
- use your strengths (mind tend to include music, and humor, so one of my blogs now has parodies I have written about that particular blog's topic -- it really jazzed me up and got me charged to renew the efforts!)
- "find a coach" must be something like getting a personal trainer -- locate a blogger who is doing a good job at what you want to do and ask for advice
- step away on occasion to recharge the batteries; that's what I guess I do because when I return to the blog in question I have new ideas and new perspectives....it's fun again!

Now I wonder, given permission to step away before coming at a blog again, how many blogs can one person maintain?  How much information can be disseminated from one brain?!

Keep Blogging my dear Blogsters!

On the Other Side of the Coin...

On the other side of the coin, is the blogger who gets to feeling chained to a blog eventually resenting the existence of it once the initial purpose is over and evolution time set in?  It takes time to evolve and reflect and produce meaningful posts. Luckily, there is Blogging Without Obligation! Yes, by golly, a person should not have to be chained to a blog unless it is a class assignment or some other duty tied to grades or income

I suspect there should be rights from the other side too -- a reader should not be expected to keep up with someone else's blog information and then refer to it when the blogger and reader meet face to face. The pressure is too great! [or should I say the guilt is too great?]

Blogs as Postcards?

Blogs, like diaries, can be used to document a path or process. When a retired couple sets off for traveling adventures, a blog can be the day-to-day tool they use to document places they see and things they do. A recent postcard arrived at my house this week from such a couple. They are retired as of April and plan to travel to exotic places for several years, dropping by the United States as time permits.

The postcard announces their Blogger url and an invitation to keep up with their exciting life of leisure. Does this obligate me to 'check out their blog' like an extra chore so I can answer questions at some point?  Yikes!

 Rachael Greenberg

No matter how this is dressed up, it smacks of obligation without the social solace of personal conversation. Where is the retirement party? Will there be postcards I can hang on my refrigerator that make me think of them at odd times of the day?

I have many blogs, but they are my reflections thrown out in to the world for others to enjoy, or not, it does not matter. I get my release sharing my thoughts whether others read or not.

The image is a wall corner of postcards. Could postcards have been the original blog of someone's journeys? I'd much rather have the postcard in my mailbox than have to commit more time to reading online.