Writing & Online Life

You know the saying about switching churches but you still won’t be happy in your new church because the church isn’t the problem – you are?

Well, I have met the enemy and I am it.

Not at church. But in blogland.

Over the past few weeks I’ve come to realize a few things about myself. And I think one of the things I’ve learned is that my struggle with blogging has more to do with me than it has to do with blogging. The blogging struggles are just symptomatic of other things.

So, as you might have guessed by the blog redesign (still in progress with a few tweaks needed), I’m not going to stop blogging.

I have to say I feel mighty embarrassed admitting this. I’ve been pretty sure for a few days that I wasn’t going to stop. And I’ve kind of dreaded writing this post because it is kind of embarrassing to say, “I’m stopping!” and now coming back and saying, “I’m not!”

I know I’ve been my own worst enemy as it pertains to this blog. I’ve made my blogging more complicated than it has needed to be. Part of my personality is trying new things out and because of that I’ve made it harder than it needs to be. My dear friend and maid of honor, Katherine, once said she loves living vicariously through me because I’m such a risk taker. When she first said that I thought she was nuts. I’m not a risk taker. But that’s because I equated risk taking with bungee jumping and hand gliding and going on vacation without all your hotel/inn/bed and breakfast rooms booked in advance. But she was talking about a different kind of risk taking. Emotional, vocational, and/or interpersonal risk taking. Oh, yes, that is me. In that sense, I’m a big risk taker and some of it shows up on this blog. A healthy dose of my INFJ personality shines through as well. (I think David laughs every time he reads my profile because it is so freakily accurate!)

This blog has evolved quite a bit over the past two and a half years. It changes because I change. I’ve changed so much and my life has changed so much in that time period. Reality is that I’m going to write about things from my life. What I find interesting. Things I’m thinking about and reading about. Things I’m dealing with in my own life.

So I’m not going to allow myself to feel obligated to keep doing something just because I’ve done it in the past, including feel that I have to stick to certain topics or categories because that’s what I’ve written about in the past and so people expect it because my blog is “that kind” of a blog. I’m going to do what I enjoy here including writing when I want and what I want.

I’m going to keep selling sidebar BlogAds. Contrary to what some might think, I don’t take every ad offered to me. I’ve turned down a couple of hundred dollars in ads in recent weeks. One was a very lucrative one-week ad for a ministry I have already publicly said I no longer support. (I have no idea why they wanted to advertise here.) Another was multiple ads for a “Christian” organization. When I reviewed their website there was something that made me uncomfortable. I also didn’t like the fact that you had to register in order to see 99% of their content. So I rejected those ads. I pick and choose and go with my gut.

I’m also going to keep doing PayPerPost ads/entries. We’ve discussed that before here and I know I lost a number of readers over that decision. I’ve read some negative comments elsewhere in the blogosphere about this decision. I don’t have much to say beyond what I’ve already said. But I will say this. I read all kinds of blogs and I wouldn’t stop reading any of them because they did PPP. Maybe I’m just more of a capitalist than the average blogger or blog reader, but I think if a blogger can put out a quality blog and make some money at the same time… more power to them. I also know that there are almost no blogs that I read every word the blogger writes. I don’t have time or the interest to read everything they write. I’m not delusional enough to think that everyone who comes here reads everything I write. So if people see something here they don’t want to read, I’m not offended. Hey, it’s a free country! So if you don’t like the ads, just cruise on past them. But I’m not going to stop doing something I enjoy and can benefit my family financially because some people don’t like it. If someone chooses not to come here because of the PPP issue, then go in peace and find other blogs that meet your needs.

So I can imagine some of you will breathe a sigh of relief and joy that I’m not quitting. Some of you (including Karen) will say, “I KNEW she wouldn’t be able to quit!” Some of you will delete me from your Bloglines or feed. Some of you will roll your eyes and keep right on reading because I make excellent fodder for your tortured blogger discussions with your friends. Whatever your response, I’m going to keep blogging.

Have a lovely evening! 🙂

While I was on bloggy break, I thought alot about blogging, blah, blah, blah. (Oh no! Not another one of those posts!) Fear not! This is not going to be about why I blog, but instead what I blog. And not just what I blog, but how I try to live my Christian life.

Oswald Chambers on May 6 (bold mine):

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.
Galatians 5:1

A spiritually minded man will never come to you with the demand–“Believe this and that;” but with the demand that you square your life with the standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the One Whom the Bible reveals. (cf. John 5:39-40). We are called to present liberty of conscience, not liberty of view. If we are free with the liberty of Christ, others will be brought into that same liberty–the liberty of realizing the dominance of Jesus Christ.

Always keep your life measured by the standards of Jesus. Bow your neck to His yoke alone, and to no other yoke whatsoever; and be careful to see that you never bind a yoke on others that is not placed by Jesus Christ. It takes God a long time to get us out of the way of thinking that unless everyone sees as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God’s view. There is only one liberty, the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to do what is right.

Don’t get impatient, remember how God dealt with you–with patience and with gentleness; but never water down the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples,” not “make converts to your opinions.”

My purpose in blogging is not to put forth a detailed ten step, twenty-five step, fifty step or one hundred step plan of how Christians, especially women, should live their lives. And I hope my blogging reflects that. I’ve got opinions – LOTS of them (just ask David!). But my goal in writing here isn’t to try to win as many converts to “Sallie’s way of thinking” as possible.

Instead, I hope people often feel encouraged and refreshed when they leave here. I hope sometimes they feel a little unsettled because that means they are being exposed to something new! And new can be good! And I hope to provoke others to prayer, study, discussion, and change – WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADS.

But I truly, TRULY hope no one ever leaves here and feels that I have tried to burden them with a yoke of my making. I would be grieved indeed if that were the case. There are plenty of other women’s blogs and websites out there already doing that. I don’t want to be numbered among them. Make people think? Yes. Make people burdened? A resounding no.

So you might have noticed that I’ve been putting up a list of interesting links (almost) daily. That is something I plan on continuing. I know that all my readers won’t be interested in all of the links I post. But I anticipate most readers will find a few each week that will bless and/or challenge them. In putting up these lists of links, I’m just sharing what I find interesting. I’m not trying to necessarily promote everything that I link to. But I do hope to promote good comments here, further study, and lively supper conversations in people’s homes.

Okay, I hope I’m not opening a can of worms here.

A favorite blog I frequent (daily) has recently gone through a bit of a “thing” because the blogger took off about two and a half weeks without announcing that she was taking a break. (The name of the blog is irrelevant and if you know who I’m talking about, please keep it to yourself.) Some of her readers were concerned because she is a rather prolific blogger, often blogging multiple times a day. Some of her readers were offended and felt that she “owed” it to her readers to let them know that she was taking a break so they wouldn’t worry about her. They openly voiced their disdain for what they perceived to be a lack of communication and care about her readers in her little shoutbox (like my chatterbox).

I will admit the thought crossed my mind a few times that I hoped everything was okay, but figured if something really bad had happened she would hop on and ask for prayer. I thought she was probably on vacation or had a lot going on with her family. I never post ahead of time about vacations, going out of town, etc. so this makes sense to me. But apparently not everyone felt the same way and some hurtful things were said to the point where some people said they would no longer visit her blog. Right.

Another thing that happened recently that caught my attention fried my burger was when another favorite blogger of mine was scolded by an anonymous commenter that she was writing too much about her weight loss experience. Few things get me going like commenters, ESPECIALLY anonymous ones, complaining about what a blogger does on her own blog. I left a comment basically stating that if they didn’t like it, don’t come there. Good grief! It’s not like you paid a subscription for a homemaking magazine and now you are getting Weight Watchers! The blogger can write about whatever she wants to! She can write about her weight loss every day for the next ten years if she wants. IT’S HER BLOG FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! Now maybe she will do that and lose her readership, but it’s still her blog!

(Okay, Sallie, calm down.)

I have to admit that if I miss more than a couple of days of blogging, I feel a responsibility to come on here and post something and/or let people know that we’re fine. I don’t necessarily expect it from other bloggers, but I do expect it of myself. (Go figure.) I know that people know that we have a baby, a business, and – GASP! – a life away from the keyboard. But at the same time I feel impolite if I don’t pop on regularly. But I don’t expect it from others. Weird, I know.

Anyhoo, what are your thoughts on bloggers and their responsibilities to their readers?