I’ll be the first to admit that blogging about blogging can be…well, weird. But I’m going to do it anyway. Sorry. Feel free to move along to the next blog in your feed reader. I won’t be offended in the least.
I normally shy away from it (blogging about blogging, that is), but when I’ve taken a prolonged and unanounced blog hiatus, I feel somehow compelled to show up here and apologize for my lack of blogging. Or explain why I haven’t been blogging. Or tell you what I have been doing instead of blogging.
At the same time, when it’s been weeks and weeks since I blogged anything, I wonder if it’s about time to shut down Callapidder Days. (Ugh. Even writing that sounds all melodramatic and ridiculous. Sorry again.) After all, if I can walk away for weeks, maybe I have very little left to say.
Or maybe it’s just that my idea of what blogging is has become overly complex in the 6+ years that I’ve been blogging here. I do admit, when I think about “Being a Blogger,” there are voices in my head that tell me I need to:
- Blog daily
- Utilize an editorial calendar
- Promote my blog on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and everywhere else in the social networking universe
- Develop my own unique and engaging voice
- Read and comment on tons of other blogs
- Say fascinating things on Twitter throughout the day
- Develop a niche for my blog and make sure my posts support and relate to that niche
- Attend blogging conferences
- Create Pinterest boards that are followed by many
- Follow, read, and comment on all the “big names” in the bloggy world
Just reading that list makes me tired. The truth is: I don’t have the time or mental energy (or, honestly, desire) to be that kind of blogger right now. I just don’t.
So I suppose it’s no wonder that when those voices give me that to-do list every time I think about maintaining my blog…I would rather go read a book or take a nap. Or maybe both.
But there’s another option. I can simplify things. I can throw that list out the window. I can just write. Write what I feel like writing, when I feel like writing it. I can write about every topic under the sun, or nothing in particular at all, and just forget about niches.
I can visit other blogs when I have the time and inclination, but feel free to walk away from the computer whenever I want to. I can say mundane things on Twitter. I can ignore Pinterest and skip blogging conferences.
So there.
Oh, I know that you already knew all that. So mostly, I’m talking to me. I’m giving myself permission to make this blog fit my personality, my schedule, my energy level, and my season of life. Permission to stop reading all the tweets and posts out there about “Being a Great Blogger.”
I’m adopting an attitude of Blogging Freedom and giving up the idea of Blogging Perfection.
Are you rolling your eyes and muttering under your breath about the excessive melodrama and navel-gazing going on here today? If you are, I get that. I’m doing a bit of that myself. So for both our sakes, I’ll try to keep the whole “blogging about blogging” thing to a minimum for a while.
And I’ll hope that processing some of these thoughts “out loud” gives me a fresh appreciation for the whole blogging thing…and that I’ll show up here more often!
I’ve been blogging about the same amount of time and have similar ups and downs. I get weary even glancing at some of the “professional” blogging advice. I know I can’t do all that, so my blog will probably never grow much….and many of the people who used to visit and comment are no longer blogging, so I get concerned about losing what audience I have. But then I wrestle with spending too much time at the computer as it is. So I’ve come to many of the same conclusions.
I’m glad you’re not shutting down completely!
Barbara H.´s last post ..My sixth blog anniversary…..
I hear you (and Barbara, too). And applaud. This blogging thing can try to take us over if we don’t wrestle it to the ground occasionally and show it who’s boss. ha. Glad you’re doing that.
Lisa notes´s last post ..Come alongside someone today
Yes, throw that list out the window!! It’s an insane list anyway (no offense). Join us slacker bloggers who are just doing our best to fit blogging into and around all the other important stuff in our lives…not to mention taking a little quiet time out to read and refresh (oooh…need to take my own advice on that one…)
Welcome back – no worries, no pressure!
Sue
Great Books for Kids and Teens
Book By Book
Sue Jackson´s last post ..Top Ten Posts That Provide the Best Glimpse of Me
Amen. It’s so easy to get into the trap that I need a pretty blog planner and schedule and loooong list of things I’d like to blog for memory’s sake. I go back and forth on this as well and your words here are pretty much what I think, but don’t have time to flesh out!
I’m still reading – whenever you post! : )
Thank you so much for saying this! I have chosen to be this kind of blogger. The kind that doesn’t want to get sucked into all the “work” of blogging. I just want to share and have fun with it. But I cannot escape those voices in my head and out there in the blogging world that tell me I’m “foolish” for passing up opportunities to make more money or to promote and grow. Ugh! That makes me so tired and discouraged. I just want to be. Thank you for choosing to just be as well. It is encouraging to know that I’m not the only weird one other there that is purposefully choosing freedom in blogging.
I know how you feel. A couple of months ago, I announced I was shutting my blog down. I came back a month later, because I realized that I needed a place to say some things, albeit seldom. I’ve given myself freedom to pare down my Google Reader, comment less, and to write what I want when I want.
Kudos to you, Katrina! I still look forward to what you share here (though I know you’ll understand if I don’t comment!)
I’m glad you aren’t shutting down. I like to read a lot of blogs as my wordpress reader shows. I do more reading now days than posting myself. Just blog as you like and enjoy it! Thanks for sharing your thoughts as I know it is the thoughts of many of us busy moms, grandmas, etc.
I so know what you mean.. I have had thoughts about what I should have on my blog.. what my space means and how to make it more uniform.. blah blah blah.. but the thing is.. I want to share what I want to share.. and not blog when I don’t feel like it.. and if that means my blog isn’t good.. I’m okay with that
Oh, Katrina, you are reading my mind. Used to be I’d blog 2-3 times a day but I just can’t do it anymore. Facebook is my instant gratification with one-liners and sharing the kids pics with long-distance family. I’ve lost “me” in the mommy-ness of life and just (for now) feel like I lost MY unique voice. I’m taking your new set of rules to heart and going from there…
I am 100% with you and I think you hit the nail on the head. I feel like blogging allowed me to find my voice and offered me a place to listen to that voice and created space for that voice to speak. But over time, people have tried to define and refine that “voice” – not my voice, but voice in general. You’ve been blogging long enough, as have I, to see blogging change and succumb to what I feel are artificially created expectations. And at the same time, what Beth said is true also: FB offers that instant gratification. Not really a bad thing, it’s just another place to use our voice. I do find myself sometimes though, wanting to be more disciplined and think thoughts through a little more.
Anyways, great post and here’s to blogging in freedom! Always love reading what you have to say . . .
dianne´s last post ..Iced Coffee Heaven
Ha — and Amen!
I think that those of us who blog, and struggle with all the things you’ve just mentioned, like reading and writing about blogging or the lack thereof. And yes, I’ve come to the same conclusion as you. I WANT to blog more, but right now for many reasons, I’m just not. And that’s okay.
Jennifer, Snapshot´s last post ..Smashed Mailboxes
YES! Fantastic attitude. Total agreement. I have to give myself bloggy permission (to not blog every now and again when I’m just plain too busy!) and it’s a mental struggle. Sometimes blogging “outloud” does help solidify the life lesson.
Writing when you want and about what you want sounds like an awesome plan!
Oh, what a good reminder! I get that “voice in my head”, nagging me to be a “better blogger”, at times, too. And, it’s hard to walk away from it and just do your own thing.
But, it’s also oh-so-freeing to just do your own thing!
I appreciate the reminder, though, that we don’t HAVE to do all the things that voice in our head says to… we can just blog what we want, when we want, and not care if the rest of it doesn’t get attended to.
Great post, Katrina!
~MizB