A while ago I wrote about my scoffing at the thought of reading other people’s blogs. And how at the time, I was already growing into a blogaholic. Well, the addiction has gripped me and I am now compelled to read blogs every day. Some days I read through my entire blog roll. Others I go to my favorites (Are We There Yet?, The Daily Tannenbaum, Pass the Chalk, The Simple Family, Gruppie Girl). And other days, really bad days, I read new blogs I find through other people’s blogs (The Written Nerd, Touch the Earth Farm, Barn Raisin’).
The blog world is a crazy one. A world where your blog readers feel like your friends though you’ve never met them and may never meet them. A world where you can reinvent yourself daily if desired; a new blog for every new you. But there is something grounding and rewarding I’ve found in becoming truly invested in this world. By giving in to my excitement to write, read, and see someone has commented, I am propelled forward to grow, discover, learn and creatively challenge myself. Who knew a virtual world created by millions of strangers that constantly changes could be so reliable and supportive?
A challenge all bloggers face, either once or repeatedly, is the question “What is the focus of my blog?” I thought I had just confronted this demon and come back with a good answer. However, I feel this challenge again. Through my random blog readings, I come across people writing about my other passions and think, why am I not writing about this topic? This is something I love too! I feel spurred on to write about all my passions at the same time, which would turn into 20 blogs, all neglected and rotting.
So I ask myself again, What is my focus? At times, I tend to get discouraged when I ask myself this question because I feel like my life does not always have a focus. My passions get blurred by passing interests, left on the leeside to follow some whim, only to be picked up again and held aloft by me at another time until the next cycle. I admire those of my friends not easily swayed by passing desires, who have said “I want a, b, and c” from the beginning and actually get a, b, and c. My life is a little less straight forward, a little more tangential, and a little less certain. My A, B and C have evolved and changed and solidified into different things with the changing stages of my life. In this way I can be glad I didn’t settle for my 16 year old A, B and C because by 27, they would and have changed drastically.
What is all this rambling about? Nothing really. Nothing more than a reminder to myself. I can’t be everything I want to be at the same time. I can’t blog about every interest I have at the same time. And no I am not missing out by not acting on each and every chance that comes my way. Calm down, Erikka. Let one thing evolve at a time. Though I may not know how long I have in this life, I can keep telling myself that nothing is forever - there is always time to change.
Who knew a virtual world would be one more way to help sharpen my focus? One more arena in which to ask myself life's pressing questions? Who knew...
I love other people's blogrolls. I like trying to figure out how they're all connected. Who knows who from what? For instance, I first met The Written Nerd through her blog, and now we are co-workers. (Although she works out of the office.)
ReplyDeleteAnd my advice is to just keep on blogging, because you'll find your groove as you go.
Ah, I too am so estranged from what I thought A, B and C were going to be. I don't do a focus on my blog because I'm so focused as a person in my worldly life, I need my blog to be spastic. Keep doing what your doing and they will come and grow and experience with you.
ReplyDeleteThis was great.
It's funny, I can never pinpoint a focus of my blog. Sometimes I think it's libraries, but it's not really. It's just my life. Maybe there doesn't need to be one sole focus? Or maybe my blog just sucks and it should have a focus... either way, I just like the act of writing it.
ReplyDeleteIt should be something fun and enjoyable for you, so I wouldn't stress too much on having a focus all the time. If you start limiting yourself too much it will stop being fun and then what's the point?
ReplyDeleteMy blog started as one thing and has since transformed into another. At first it was going to be an anonymous blog in which I had a cool code name and didn't let myself get too personal. But it's hard to hide myself, so I stopped hiding behind the screen and now I just go with the flow. I don't think I could really find one focus or direction for my blog. It's just my outlet for whatever happens to be on mind at the moment my fingers tap the keys :)
ReplyDeleteI actually have a D, E, F, G in addition to A, B, C... it's starting to become the proverbial alphabet soup, though. But who *wouldn't* want to be a freelancer/novelist/cartoonist/
ReplyDeleteprofessor/screenwriter/gamewriter/
nonfiction author?
Besides, I thought you were just going to be the change you wished to see in the world or something.
Like Noelle said, I love looking at other blogrolls, trying to figure out the link from one to another or the huge, jumbled Venn diagram of how they all overlap. Where did YOU come from? How did YOU find the corner I'm in? It's fascinating, really.
ReplyDeleteAs for a blog focus, I totally understand that. There's a whole big segment of the blog world that's just personal blogs--whatever you're going through is what's on screen--and I'm OK with that being my only theme. Sometimes I feel like my blog is a dating blog or a singles blog, but I don't want the pressure of having to tell only that kind of story, nor the prospect of having to kill the blog if I finally ever find a relationship again. Whatever you're feeling is what you should write. No unifying theme is necessary. :-)