{A continuation of the discussion on blogging. Part 1, here & part 2, here.}
♥ Martha Stewart:
“I don’t sleep much. It’s just not that interesting to me.”
[Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York), March 24, 2000]
I’ve often felt the outsider. You know?
I have all of this energy & it must be channeled somewhere, and hopefully a positive somewhere. Sometimes my creative energy just comes out as pure craziness. Like a neurotic cat, I’ve got to get this energy out somehow. Not a lot of people understand this.
After I read Emily’s 11 attributes of creative people though (I nodded in agreement with each point, especially #’s 3, 5, 8, 10, & 11), I felt validated. A bit more at peace with my existence. Yes, there is a purpose for this itch that I have to create and, I’m not alone.
Artists, writers, musicians–we are tormented people. We just can’t accept what is. There’s the constant striving for something better, or dwelling on how things could be or should be. We find it hard to be content, it’s true. Perhaps this is why so many of us creative types struggle with perfectionism &/or depression.
It’s hard to be a creative soul.
And perhaps we make our lives harder, & more complicated than it needs be. (Joseph accuses me of this all the time. I’m afraid I’m guilty as charged.) But often, we just can’t help ourselves. (Also true.) We’re willing to be generous, if it means creating something beautiful & helping others along the way (as Emily points out). We’re willing to toil, lose sleep, suffer all sorts of deprivation for our art & dreams.
As mentioned in parts 1 & 2 of this series, blogging is hard work.
I know, I know, I make it look absolutely effortless, don’t I? (You’re too kind.) But you don’t know about the late nights, the botched recipes (or DIY crafts, or photos, as the case may be), the actual hard, cold statistics. The hours spent in front of a computer, that could easily be spent elsewhere (sleeping, say?). It’s not glamorous, & can often feel like a lonely, thankless job. (I know, get ready to throw us poor, poor bloggers a pity party.)
Yesterday, Wendy of HGK, wrote about this dilemma with blogging, wondering if she should give up her blog, or at least put it on the back burner because her life is full of so many other, more important responsibilities.
The fact is, there is no way around the time factor. Sure it takes a reader 1-3 minutes to consume a post, but hours for the blogger to put it together, especially if it’s a recipe, a how-to, or a DIY post. As Joseph once noted, “only a spouse or a roommate of a regular blogger or another fellow blogger really knows how much time & work behind the scenes that is involved.”
There is much more to blogging than just the time quotient, although that does play a major part. There’s editing, knowing the technology, the writing & content itself, photography, & design. I have learned much this past year about many of these things. But what I’ve come to terms with is that I still lack much. What I lack however, at least for now, I know I can make up for in work ethic & drive.
I won’t stop learning & I won’t give up. I think that is what is going to be my saving grace in the end. It won’t be my amazing talent or skill (of which I hope to accumulate a bit of that along the way). It will be the fact that I made creativity a habit. (Twyla Tharp talks about the discipline & consistency of creativity in her book The Creative Habit, which I highly recommend.)
So why blog? Why bother? You’ve got to answer those questions. You, & only you.
For me, I want to create & I want to share. Also, I want to publish someday. I can think of no other better medium (currently) where I am forced to be creative & disciplined on a consistent basis than through blogging. Add some truly amazing & lovely people (like you), to the mix, & it’s totally worth the effort, despite the sacrifices.
Here are a few tidbits to round out the discussion from some ladies who’ve been at this blogging gig for awhile (& found great success, by blogger standards):
♥ Tips from Joy the baker.
♥ Joanna Goddard, from a Cup of Jo, shares what it’s like to pursue blogging as a career. I also appreciate her discussion on the work/life/baby balance (is there such a thing?).
♥ Katie, of CCK, shares a day in her life as a blogger (& shows that it’s a lot of work!).
Why I blog, Part 1
Why I blog, Part 2
♥♥♥
If you blog, why do you do it? What is your goal(s) in doing so?
Do you consider yourself a creative person?
Could you relate with any of the items on Emily’s list?
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