/blog

Writing in the journal last night I was curious about how many days I've missed. So I jumped into the database.

The table shows there are 1011 journal entries with the oldest being 15th December 2020. That was when I (re)introduced a new system on the old WordPress site based on the easy posting method I had built for the blog. I migrated it to the new site back in March 2021, just a couple of months after launching (b)log-In.

It is 1028 days since 15th December 2020 so (with one row in the database for each day) I have only missed 17 days in nearly three years. Some of these were simply because I was busy and forgot.

The role of the journal has changed and morphed over that time. The first few days were quite meta with me noting changes and improvements. Also featuring heavily during those early days was an ongoing debate about whether journalling was actually going to stick for me this time. I think it's safe to say it has.

I originally wondered if the journal could replace, or become the digital equivalent of, morning pages. It's never really achieved that being more an ongoing brain dump, event tracker, and sometimes gratitude log. The format is always subject to change.

Being able to pin images in place has meant that I can combine handwritten notes with their digital counterparts. The introduction of the Galaxy Tab into my workflow has meant these notes can be handwritten but digital at the same time. I am hoping that writing by hand there will become more of a habit, meaning I can pin more of my scrawl into the journal.

Even when I can't bring myself to post on the blog at least something usually gets added to the private space, even during my darkest days. There is definitely something to be said for this as a means of holding things together when times are tough.

I wouldn't be without it now.

Like What happened to blogging for the hell of it? | wiwi blog...

Why is that the end goal of blogging? Of writing? Just to make money and grow our followers? To increase our traffic so we can expose our visitors to 300 repetitive ads that take up their entire phone screen? To "convert" our readers into our customers, because them reading and enjoying what we have to say simply isn't enough?

When I switched to writing about social media in 2008 I wanted to be a 'thought leader', an authority, a 'big thinker' but it wasn't with the intention of amassing thousands of followers or making money (I never monetised the blog) – at least not directly. I had visions of getting a 'sweet gig' because of blogging rather than making money directly from it. My anxieties and insecurities soon saw to that, passing up genuine opportunities like being interviewed as an "expert" on TV.

Over the years I realised that I don't do this for those reasons; I blog because I like it, because I feel compelled to by something deep inside. There will always be an element of 'approval seeking' as my brain constantly reinforces imposter syndrome but is, thankfully, in decline.

Fortunately, there are some wonderful pockets of good old 'honest blogging' around the web, not least the one using Herman Martinus' Bearblog blogging platform (whiona's included) – just people writing whatever they want, often anonymously, just for the love of it. I found and subscribed to a number of interesting blogs that are focused on the person and their words and had a few email conversations on the back of it.

This is the personal web in action!

(Via Tracy)