It has been great reconnecting with the WordPress community. One thing I’ve always wondered about over twenty years of my dipping in and out of WP is how many blogs bloggers attempt to follow regularly. Since I try to read and comment as much as I can, I always have tried to keep my number manageable. Inevitably, I find new blogs which entertain…and that number creeps higher. Right now, I’m back up to 72. In a prior WordPress life, I was once over 100. I don’t know if you find those counts conservative, copacetic, or crazy.
Of course, bloggers blog at different rates, post lengths, etc. so the number of blogs one follows doesn’t begin to tell the whole story. I have seen bloggers in the past apologizing for not making the rounds on blogs they follow. I get that. I have felt I was letting down bloggers if I was super-late to their posts. Sometimes in the past, I wound up doing all following and no writing, especially when life sped up a bit or my creative juices completely stopped flowing. The recurring issue is if I’m not writing at least some of the time, I personally don’t feel like a “real” member of the blogging community, and prior frustration in not posting more has eventually resulted in my departing WordPress completely.
I recently happened across the phrase “plants figure it out.” I think this is a neat way of representing that whatever environment they find themselves in, plants make every attempt to adapt, pivot, and survive. It is what humans are also tasked to do when finding ourselves in new and/or challenging circumstances…figure it out.
So…it made perfect sense when I was hesitating a bit (a lot) about what to start off posting after creating this new (another) blog, I consulted with whom I felt could best help me figure it out.
Ficus was a house-warming gift from Mrs. B’s mother twenty years ago (grainy Year 7 Ficus @ Christmas picture above). It has resided in a sun-splashed corner of an upstairs room long ago christened as “office space,” adjacent to my desk…always watching over me.
At the top of this post we find Ficus present-day, obviously having figured things out over the years while hanging out in its little corner of the world. It has been trimmed back several times, yet always roars back with renewed enthusiasm for expanding its reach further. Therefore, there was little doubt in my mind a conversation with Ficus would help resolve how to best start growing this little corner of WordPress.
Ficus: So, what do you wanna talk about? Is it that blog I watched you start up the other day?
Me: Yup. How did you know?
Ficus: So far, I noticed you have only been reading and commenting on other sites…not writing anything new. From watching you in the past, that kind of behavior leads to your feeling like you are not a real blogger yourself. Over time, you start to get frustrated not finding time to make new content when life gets a bit more busy, and soon afterward you literally delete blogging from your life.
Me: Guilty as charged.
Ficus: So, how can I help?
Me: Well, I am now ruminating a bit about some of my posts no longer being on WordPress. I want to put them back online. They were my posts that represented a “slice of life.” I definitely want to have them available for any new readers who might find them someday. I do want to post more frequently going forward about my “go-to” subjects like current entertainment and sports. I love writing about them, and I’m gonna make those posts happen. It’s just a bit of a crazy time right now. Maybe my return could have been better timed to the realities of current life. I haven’t really gotten anything together yet.
Ficus: So, why don’t you start out on the new site publishing a couple of those prior life-y posts, and then blend in new stuff as it comes to you. That will get you back more quickly into that cycle I know you like to find yourself in. Reading, commenting…and posting.
Me: Makes sense, but I also understand there is a blogging courtesy where you give readers a heads-up when posts might be ones they have already encountered. I want to be able to bring this writing back without suggesting that. I’m sure I will be tweaking and refreshing the posts anyway, but since this new site is supposed to be my “forever” site, I would like all the posts there to look and feel exclusive. It’s not like I have them published anywhere else…except maybe The Wayback Machine. Is this being selfish…a bit picky…or bordering on the obsessive?
Ficus: Look, if those posts were well received, your followers are not gonna mind if they happen to find familiarity on occasion. I think they would agree with me you should do what makes you happy. These things giving you pause here are champagne problems for sure, pal. And to be perfectly honest with you, your readers probably don’t remember reading any of your posts anyway – no offense, of course.
Me: None taken. You’re right. It really is mind-boggling how fast the world spins these days for everyone.
Ficus: Sure. Let’s go with that. Anyway…it is your site. You get to decide if any fine print is required. Look, if you still want to acknowledge that blogging protocol, just let your readers know before you start out what your plan is. Good communication builds even stronger relationships.
Me: Wise beyond your branches…I am very happy we had this talk, my friend for all seasons. Thanks, Ficus.
Ficus: Anytime. I always figure it out.
I am confident Ficus has already started to once more figure it out that daylight hours are slowly decreasing, with its daily rations of light again approaching from different angles.
From the Autumn Equinox to the Spring Equinox, we have entered my favorite time of year. I am sure aside from my love for Fall and Winter weather in the Northeast US, the primary reason is because of the traditional holidays that fall within the first half of that time frame. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s.
Retail and commercial “seasonal creep” has certainly become challenging to ignore as many companies continually try to tear at the fabric of the natural order of holiday traditions. As my love for Halloween has grown in recent years, I continue to be amazed at just how far Christmas has backed up the calendar smack-dab into Halloween. I love Christmas. I even love it more than Halloween. I just think it could be patient until Halloween ends.
I am pretty sure Halloween is pretty pissed Christmas is coming for it so hard (Thanksgiving is used to being overrun by Christmas, but it eats so well I don’t think Thanksgiving cares…). There are a number of entities I could call out for celebrating Christmas in mid-October, but I’ll just aim for one here. It pains me to do so…because in November or December I am all for watching a Hallmark Christmas movie.
Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas starts this year on October 17th.
No. Just. No.
I think it is high time to push back this time. Countdown to Christmas should start on November 1st at the earliest. Make that adjustment to your calendar for next year, Hallmark. Thank you.
More importantly…Halloween thanks you.
Pictures Courtesy City of Salisbury MD/iStock
