Enough of my friends have commented on my lack of blogging lately, that I’ve been trying to work out what’s going on. So here’s a self-indulgent post about my blogging habit and what’s happened to it.
I originally planned to take up blogging for professional reasons. I was a consultant, and it is always good for a consultant to have some intellectual property out there to show their prospective clients how much they are worth hiring. But my employer at the time hated that idea – not enough control – too much risk to the brand, so I did it anonymously, thinking I would still use it to develop my professional thinking. But when I actually started writing, it became much more personal – a way of thinking through my thoughts about lots of divergent issues – and forcing myself to come up with an opinion. It also had the unexpected side-effect of improving my writing.
And now I realise that blogging gradually became my conversation in the evenings, as Mr Penguin was spending 3-4 nights a week as a councillor on our local council. So after I’d put the boys to bed, I’d take the chance to start or join in the conversation about the world that was going on in the blogosphere. Mr Penguin decided a year ago not to stand for re-election, so he’s here in the evenings, again. We’ve had more time to chat. And I had someone in person to have a rant to about the latest world issue, because we had more time to fully develop the conversation. So I didn’t feel the need to rehash whatever it was on my blog – although I suspect I would have a better formed opinion if I had.
I also joined a choir this year, which I’ve always wanted to do – I love listening to voices in harmony, and wanted to try being a part of that, even though I’ve never done any singing.
So my blogging gradually slowed down. But I do miss that blogging conversation – it’s a different one, than the less structured one we have in person. So I’m going to keep at it, even though I suspect that my posting rate will stay pretty low.
One of the useful things about RSS feeds is that you can put a blog in there, and then whenever the blogger posts something, you will see it I’m always glad to see your posts pop up on my feed.
I’ve noticed that mine tends to follow the same pattern. I’m also (on the occasions when I get to take a lunch) slotting in bits at work, which kind of substitutes for the fact that I don’t really have any peers to go to lunch with (God, that sounded sad!) I do keep a ‘professional’ blog up elsewhere but the effort it takes to extract any real value out of it is more than I have time to put in…
I only ever intended to write about personal things, but my writing was dependent (to a large extent) on the productivity of people “around me,” in the sense that we were having conversations together. Many/most of those conversations were about motherhood, though, and as the subject seemed to be exhausted, I found myself writing less — along with most of the other people I “found” back in 2005/2006.
There may be a kind of rhythm or life-cycle to most not-for-profit blogs that only a few people manage to defy.