Friday, October 15, 2010

To blog or not to blog?

For the past couple weeks I have been questioning the relevance/purpose of my blog. I have found that once you have a good following, you just want more followers and more comments! Which in turn produces what my friend Polly calls Blog Envy. Yes, blog envy. As in when you are looking at all of the other blogs you are following and you start to despise them. You know, it's that feeling of envy you might get when looking at someone's latest post and you are thinking to yourself, "Why don't I have time to do that? Why can't I be that clever?"


Does this all sound childish? Of course it does! But I think it's true and for the past month I have been thinking a lot about what my blog is about and what sort of purpose it actually serves in my (creative) life? Do I do it for fun? For myself? Do I blog for business? Are my typed words some way of socializing with people online? I think the answer is yes to all of these, but I still feel like my blog is just not good enough! For the most part I think these feelings are generated from this sort of unspoken mold or format that exists in the blogging universe that we may feel we need to abide by. There are no specific rules on how to create a successful blog, but I tend to notice a pretty standardized format out there in the blog universe and in my head, I'm thinking, "That's what I should be doing! My blog needs to look like that!" But is this right? Doesn't this envy, this desire to have a weekly blogging format destroy the concept of originality and maybe even the very idea of blogging itself (i.e. Is this blog for me or for you?)

I don't really know the answers to some of these questions I'm having but I do know that I feel a strong urge to suddenly share these thoughts publicly. Which in turn makes me think maybe it's time that I get a little more personal on this blog. Maybe, I shouldn't worry so much about creating a flattering blog or a post that will draw millions of readers to my site. Maybe it's time to break the mold and just hope for the best with this blog.

So yeah, there you go. There's my rant for the week. Whew.

How about you guys? How do you feel about your blog? Are you insecure about it at all or do you just say, "Whatevs! This is just for fun!" I'm curious to hear other people's thoughts and feelings about blogging as well as why they think they actually blog. Hope some of you will share.

5 comments:

  1. I so relate to this post. I used to be very insecure about my blog, and then I was just sort of insecure, and now I am almost at whatevs. I don't know why more people don't read it. I wish I had time to make it look better. But the few people who read it that I really do know seem to like it. And I'll take that. But this is a mood that can swing wildly. Tomorrow I may be in a full panic about it. Probably not. But maybe...

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  2. Glad to know I'm not alone! I wish I had time to make mine look better too. I think in the end it's always about time and how much you have or are willing to spend on your blog.

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  3. it's good to know other people have these kind of queries floating in around in their brains.

    when i get all uptight or spend too much time working on it, the hubbers is always quick to point out: "dude (yes, he calls me dude), it's a blog." it is said with a certain amount of derision, but i think he means "CHILL OUT," as he knows i do tend to get carried away with various projects.

    anyway, what i guess he means, and i mean is, at least at some level, blogging should be fun, right? i try to remind myself of that when i feel all guilty about not posting for a day. fun is infectious, and if i'm not having fun posting, i feel like readers will be able to feel that too.

    that said, i really enjoy reading your blog. you've introduced me to some very cool embroidery artists (not to mention this is how i found your adorable shop!).

    just my two cents, for what it's worth. (um, two cents, amirite? oh boy...clearly time to go home...)

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  4. omg, also, i just noticed your Halloween header -- brilliant!!

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  5. Thanks for the feedback Kelli. You're Awesome.

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Hi there! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!