Thursday, July 12, 2012

To blog, or not to blog?

So, I'm confused.

There is this big community of amazing women out there, bloggers, a few of whom I've made contact with recently, and I am in awe. There are these amazing, honest, GOOD, ever-learning, sharing, excited (I could go on and on, just awesome) women out there, and all are connected because they blog.

When I say "they blog", I don't mean what I do here. I don't mean they picked a free template on blogger, and randomly post pictures/thoughts whenever they feel like it. These women are BRANDS. If they don't know html themselves, then they have a professionally designed template from somewhere. They are all photographers in some sense of the word (even if it's just taking pictures with instagram, these chicks are always snapping photos of something!), and they all write. Beautifully. I mean, I was an English major, I can certainly write a thing or two when prompted, but these women love it enough to write a lot. About anything & everything. And everything they write is coherent to the entirety of their blog. It doesn't feel random at all. (No wonder some of them make money off of these blogs!) Check out my list of favorite blogs to see what I mean.

Now, I don't get it. I don't get how amazing photos/articulate & creative writing translates to good/fun/entertaining person. Perhaps it's the type of person that is ABLE to blog tends to be similar? Young struggling artist, stay-at-home mom, writer? But I feel similar to these people, I certainly feel connected to them and think that they would like me if they knew me (hehe), but I can't join the "club" unless my blog is snazzy & I post regularly?

Well, I have a (demanding) full time job and am planning a wedding. I spend a lot of time with family & friends, and when I veg-out, it's usually with a glass of wine & a good book (or old movie). I don't (as of yet) see "blogging" as this great sense of release. I much rather be face-to-face with someone and interact. Job & time aside, I'm also just not the kind of person who can sit still & spill their guts in such a well-contrived, poetic way. I hardly ever take pictures (which I hate & am trying to get better at), and 99% of my blog posts are written quickly  hastily during my lunch break at work.

What I am wondering is, what do I want more: a pretty blog that I update regularly, or a connection and "pass to the club" with these great women? Can I have one without the other? Can I want one, but pursue the other?

Someone please explain...

3 comments:

  1. I think blogging is whatever you make it. It is to you what you want it to be. It’s yours. I don’t think these women necessarily update their blogs thinking about everyone else who reads them or about anyone else’s opinions. They made them for themselves, stayed true to themselves and it just sort of progressed into this. The fact that they have a following and know html resulted from them being true to what they wanted their blog to be and this turning into a real passion for them. You have different, amazing passions that they don’t have.

    I totally know what you mean about not measuring up and even being in the same league as them, but that’s not why I blog. I do it for a lot of reasons. Partly as a way to keep everyone in the loop (that wants to be in the loop) about my life, especially since my family is cut in half into two states. Partly, it’s for me. I love looking back to see where I was just a few months ago and see how much I’ve changed or grown or remind me of what I’ve been through or what was happening at a certain time. Years from now I want to look back and make sure I enjoyed things and found humor in things and also have come so far through struggles. Plus – I’m horrible at journaling. I mean, I certainly hope to get a lot better at this in the meantime. Do I think I’ll ever be on par with the women whose blogs we follow? Most definitely not. But it gives me a little inspiration that I have room to grow it into whatever I want it to be. If I all of a sudden didn’t enjoy it, I just wouldn’t do it anymore.
    I think you can absolutely be in their “club” without having a blog at all. Just based on your interactions thus far it’s proven that your communication and relationship isn’t based on whether or not you have a blog. I think you have proven your (for lack of a better word) worthiness to “hang” and relate by your comments and interactions with them. You’re SUPER articulate and well-read, etc. You can absolutely want one and pursue the other. You can pursue just one. Any scenario is possible if you want it.

    I think that whether or not you continue your blog is completely up to you. But… look back on your first entry. You initially created this so you could document/timeline everything leading up to your wedding for the last almost year and a half. If you get nothing else out of the blog, it’s a beautiful snapshot of your last year together as an engaged couple. You can show your kids, your grandkids and even look back on anniversaries about your journey leading up to your wedding. I think you should be really proud of it and not compare it to other blogs. Because it isn’t comparable. It’s for you. You’re way too critical of yourself! The women you admire are completely admirable – but so are you… just in all different ways. It’s why you relate to them. You all have the same things at your core. It’s funny the things you appreciate and pick out in them are almost the exact things I appreciate and admire in you.
    Xo.

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  2. Meghan is so right. You are very articulate in your comments and interactions, and that's what drew me first to your Twitter and now to your blog.

    I like to think of it as generations, instead of clubs. Like, I'm never going to be in Rockstar Diaries' club. But the people who started out blogging with her (her generation) have a lot more in common with her, so they go be friends together. And then I'm friends with my generation, the 2009-ish crowd, the crowd that's just starting to have babies, so on and so forth. And new generations of bloggers will be formed and bond over their newness.

    But the good thing is, (or I like to hope) anyone can gain entry into any of the generations, if they really wanted to. If you share something in common, if you're sincere in your commenting and following, EVEN if you don't update your blog regularly. There are a lot of girls on Twitter who I'd consider my internet friends, and they don't even have blogs.

    Sometimes it can be like high school, but I don't want to be bloggy friends with those girls anyway.

    Keep doing what you're doing :)

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