If you see a whole thing - it seems that it's always beautiful. Planets, lives... But up close a world's all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life's a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. - Ursula K. LeGuin

Saturday, February 28, 2009

A Reluctance To Blog

I'm not sure why but I really haven't been feeling it lately. In part I've been doing very well on my resolve to write more for work and spend less time reading blogs and blogging. I guess like most things with me, if I'm not doing it all the time I tend to not want to do it at all. I've been trying to at least stay somewhat up-to-date with my bloggy friends and have been reading every couple of days. However my commenting is way down and that makes me feel bad. I mean isn't that what blogging is all about--sharing, connecting, continuing the conversation?

Truth be told I go through phases IRL where I'm a reluctant participant in most conversations. I have the reputation of being "quiet" or "an introvert." Both are true but really I enjoy being inside my own head many times more than I enjoy hearing what is in others. It may sound awful but I'm rarely bored with myself. In fact I often amuse myself. Its not necessarily that others bore me--at least not my IRL or bloggy friends--it is more that its a lot more work and sometimes (oftentimes) it is easier to be by myself.

The reluctance may also be caused by a sudden loss of certain bloggy friends. Several people I've followed for well over a year now have given up the ghost. One or two have admitted as much and posted farewells and others, well weeks then months go by and...nothing. Other beloved bloggers are just posting far less frequently, like me I guess. For some of them I believe it is mostly due to a newly acquired addiction to FaceBook. I'm on FaceBook (and actually had my first experience of being "found" by someone I really wanted to find me) but I can't get into it. I don't think I can Twitter either. If I'm going to write its going to be long-winded. Minutiae in small but regular doses isn't my thing. I'd rather write my minutiae in nice long blocks such as this one.

So the recent farewells have me thinking about the purpose of blogging--what it does for me, what it does for others. If I'm going to fade in and out, will I need to find new audiences each time? That seems both sad and like a lot of work. If, as I've written about before, my primary aim here is to stretch my writing voice, will I eventually wander off to more productive pastures? As for my friends who have left blogging for FaceBook is it because the conversation there is more satisfying? Are they seeking quicker responses/gratification? more comments/interaction? Have blogs served their purpose and now we'll all move on?

4 comments:

Amanda@Lady Scientist said...

Well, I'd be sad to see you stop. I know that, as of late, I've had a hard time blogging, too. A lot of my life is unbloggable right now. Maybe we all go through these phases?

MoxieMamaKC said...

Please don't stop writing! You're one of my favorites. That being said, I've been lessening up on blogging and commenting but I think it has more to do with the weather and the depressing economy. There's a line of what to share and what not to share and I think a lot of people struggle with that. It might just be a phase. Stick it out awhile. You don't have to CONSTANTLY post. Most people have readers/rss feeds and until you board up your blog, I'll always be here. Chin up, girlfriend!

~profgrrrrl~ said...

I hope you keep blogging!

Facebook is totally different, I think. And I must admit that I don't get twitter. I mean, I do ... but I have no need for it.

But blogging does have an ebb and flow. Or at least it does for me. I've been thinking about why I'm not blogging much lately and it's probably because of my recent life changes and I'm not sure anyone wants to hear about it. Plus some unbloggable stuff. It's hard to know what to write about.

life_of_a_fool said...

I also hope you keep blogging! And I hope it hasn't served its purpose more generally and everyone moves on. I agree with profgrrrl - facebook is fundamentally different. I enjoy aspects of it, but the tiny little blurbs and status updates are a very poor substitute for blog posts.