Still trying to decide whether to try to post something every day this month or not. I admit that my blogging-drive has taken a bit of a dive this past year, due to the decrease in readers and comments; it just isn't as much interactive fun as it used to be. But I'm a lifelong journaler, and this medium suits me, so I'm still here, asking your indulgence for these notes on a life that would otherwise end up in a dark drawer!
Last year, I wrote a poem a day, each one built on a color.
It would be fun sometime to do a drawing a day based on a color. But I think that's not going to be this November: too little color around, and too much upcoming travel, rehearsal, work, and busyness.
I've done several month-long haiku/tanka stints, and by the end of the month it's really difficult. Good practice though.
For superhuman feats, surely my friend Dave Bonta's review/appreciation of a poetry book every day of the month, a few years ago, took the prize, though Luisa Igloria's poem-a-day practice has shattered that ceiling many times over.
This fall has felt like a whirlwind of design work, rehearsals, travel, church and family stuff, along with the normal daily routine, and it's been too much -- which is probably why I got sick. Many of those responsibilities aren't nearly finished, either. I think my practice this November is going to be being less demanding of myself, not more, and to focus on the restorative practices that help me: being outdoors, playing the piano, meditating, having quiet time at home. The relaxed expectation might even result in a better outcome -- we'll see!
I've recently discovered your blog through Duchesse at Passage des Perles -- I haven't been commenting, but decided to break the silence of my lurking because I know exactly what you mean about the decrease in interactivity and the effect it has on one's own blogging. Yes, I suppose I do write for myself and I know I'll keep going because I so enjoy the writing habit I've developed. But it's still tough sometimes to stay motivated when a post doesn't get the readers or comments one might have hoped for. We're all so busy -- and, perhaps, after 10 years or so (I've been blogging for 7, reading blogs for 10 or more years), we're all a teensy bit jaded.
You're wise to give yourself a quieter November -- it's a time of year when it's so easy to over-extend.
Posted by: Frances/Materfamilias | November 02, 2013 at 03:31 PM
Frances, thanks a lot for the comment -- I'm delighted to meet you! Like you, I've been at this a long time, and we've both seen a lot of change in that time. If I didn't do creative work for myself, and for the process itself, I would have quit long ago -- but of course it's human to like (and be helped by) affirmation and support and encouragement. Because I've always tried to give a lot of that to others, it means a lot to me when people take the time to comment and respond! So thank you, and thanks for reading.
Posted by: Beth | November 02, 2013 at 04:07 PM
I read your opening sentences with great interest - and the rest of course. But your opening captured my interest immediately. I also found the comment by Frances interesting also, and her use of the word "lurking.". Now call me paranoid if you like, actually I'd prefer it if you didn't really, but when I see that I have 200+ pageviews for a post, but no comments, I do begin to wonder. Is the NSA the only ones reading my blog? But seriously, regardless of how much I try to absent myself from ego-yearns, it is always nice to receive some comments, even if they were rude, which they never are.
Posted by: Tom | November 02, 2013 at 04:10 PM
I can relate to your restorative practices! They do me good, too, when I make time for them. I've never managed to write poem a day though - I just write myself into the ground. I take off my hat to anyone with the discipline and imagination to do it.
Re blogging, I too blog less - but (like this evening) make the most of it when I do - I think the term for it is "slow blogging". I'll take time to write my post - and time to go round the blogs I read.
Posted by: Dominic | November 02, 2013 at 05:42 PM
I do not comment very often, but I do read your blog. I'm not sure how blog readership is counted. How does that happen?
Certain blogs help me start my morning. One of them is yours.
Posted by: Kathryn | November 03, 2013 at 07:16 AM
I'm also a new reader and new fan! I feel refreshed by your pages each morning. I so admire your creativity and willingness to share. Your watercolors especially motivate me to get outside more and really SEE what's around me. I think we are close in age and time of life, and I am using your words and pictures to model how I might tap into a more creative part of me that has so rarely been used.So thank you and pls know that even tho you may have fewer comments, there are those of us out here who draw comfort and inspiration from you!
Mary Lynn
Posted by: mary lynn | November 03, 2013 at 08:12 AM
Just a follow-up to Tom. I'm using the word "lurking" in the tongue-in-cheek way it gets regularly used for this practise, in the blogging world, of reading regularly but not commenting. I'm not deliberately characterizing myself with all the darker connotations of the word as it was used fifteen years ago, outside of cyberspace. ;-) And like you, I do sometimes wonder how stats can be as high as they sometimes are with no accompanying comments. Interestingly, lately, I've been delighted to "meet" readers who apparently have been following my blog for quite some time and thanks to some new topic or other, suddenly/finally stop a bit longer to say hello in a comment.
Posted by: Frances/Materfamilias | November 03, 2013 at 09:46 AM
Thank you, Dominic -- and good luck with your own restorative practices and "slow time" -- I hear you!
Kathryn, thanks so much for writing, I appreciate what you said very much and am honored to be part of your mornings!
Mary Lynn, thank you for telling me about yourself. If my words and example are helping to inspire you and a few others to do more creative work of your own at this point in life, that's reason enough for me to blog. I'm delighted to hear about it.
And to all readers: please know that I'm also happy to hear from you by email (see the sidebar.) Thanks for being here, whether silent or not: and it's OK to be silent, I do understand!
And a final note on this topic: now that I read a lot of blogs via Feedly on my phone or Nexus tablet (a new gadget I have to admit I love) I leave comments less often myself, because so often when I try I get errors, or get booted off the site because of "too many reloads" -- plus it's extremely cumbersome to go through the sign-in and Captcha processes on a hand-held device. Maybe a lot of other readers are doing the same.
Posted by: Beth | November 03, 2013 at 02:32 PM
there are many bloggers who are about the attention they get and when the attention waned or their dreams of internet fame evaporate, they disappear.
i submit to you what i believe about you: you blog because you have something to say. you would have something to say if nobody ever commented.
write every day or don't. write if you have something to say. you will find that you do because your unique voice should be heard.
it isn't about a blog challenge. you know about art for art's sake. you also know about sharing ideas and words and pictures for the sake of sharing.
Posted by: flask | November 03, 2013 at 05:16 PM
Thank you for your kind words.
Posted by: Kathryn | November 04, 2013 at 04:21 PM
Thanks so much for blogging. I've been reading you for years, though usually through an aggregator. This post has inspired me to rekindle my dormant blog. Best wishes.
Posted by: Dax | November 04, 2013 at 09:35 PM