Just went over to Grendel's and was pensive after what he'd written about the difficulties of running the blog:Part of the problem is the hours which, as we all know, it takes to support these projects. For me it's pretty much impossible to get on the computer before 21.30hrs on any given day. So by the time the posts are researched / written / proof read and published and all the visits undertaken you're just not getting to bed before 01.00hrs.Yes, that probably sums it up. If you run a consistent blog where you come up with new and interesting things every day, then you are a virtual journo, without being paid one penny. And yet fellow bloggers I've observed will scour the papers and other sources, answer emails, answer comments, plan the post, write and publish, as well as going around other blogs and for what?
And that's how things have been for much of the last year and I think it's got to the stage where that's just not a sustainable position anymore. I haven't been feeling too good lately and perhaps a period of getting proper nights rest will help to address that.
I have been thinking of getting out completely. But there is this little voice that reminds me of the time and effort expended on this project and a sadness at leaving the blog friends / associates made since I started.
Someone I know is not blogging at all - he's out making money. What am I doing? Blogging. Now is that productive? Seems to me one has either too much time on the hands or is not utilizing it to produce income.
Maybe though, just maybe, it is the camaraderie and the way the blog becomes part of us. We don't stop feeding the cat or dog because we tire of the dear. We don't have a hiatus on changing the baby.
Our blogs do seem a bit like babies.
They are our babies. It's our thoughts and feelings made alive and put out there to grow and develop.
ReplyDeleteI've often thought of shutting the blog, and have locked everyone out many a time. But I keep coming back, because to shut it down and delete it would mean erasing all those thoughts and feelings. And that would mean erasing a little bit of yourself.
It certainly requires a sterling effort to keep it going, even my inconsequential twaddle.
ReplyDeleteBut it is the blog friends, from all around the world, who make it so worthwhile in the long run.
They are, they're what we make them. Furthermore, a good friend of mine who runs a blog (and has yet to find employement) once said the best way (joking and yet serious) to run a blog is to not have a job.
ReplyDeletePlus, I've met so many great people on blogs (many of whom I've gone on to meet in real life and they've become truly good friends of mine) that I can't imagine not keeping mine around, reading others, etc.
ReplyDeleteI believe I do it to stop myself going mad at the world.
ReplyDeleteIt's a place where you can have an adult conversation with like minded people.
Which seems impossible anywhere else nowadays.
I think that says it all then.
ReplyDeleteYou may find the following article of interest, "Gin, Television, and Social Surplus"
ReplyDeleteBy
Clay Shirky
on April 26, 2008.
I agree it is the people you meet along the way who make it worthwhile :-)
ReplyDeleteI think you need a couple of days to chill out anyway ;-)