A Quiet Simple Life

Sallie Schaaf Borrink

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My Two Week Website & Blogging Experiment

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I’m about to embark on a two week experiment. I am fairly certain it will be permanent, but I’m leaving myself an out in case I change my mind.

I’m going back to blogging.

By that I mean blogging without carefully selected featured images and coordinating banners. (Getting rid of the images is a huge part of this.) Without meeting certain word counts. Without all the stuff. When blogging was about sharing little bits of your life, having interesting ideas and insights to share from the world around you, etc. It wasn’t about ALL. THE. STUFF. that comes with running a website.

Blogging when it meant you saw something interesting in a video or article and wanted to share it with a few thoughts of your own. Back when you could write two, three, four, or even five posts in a day.

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. I get close and then I fold. I’ve gotten very close so many times. It’s so very hard to make such a big decision.

Some of you will love the new direction. Some of you might not. I’m asking you to let me try this experiment for a few weeks before you leave and don’t come back.

So what led me to make this change?

As I said, I’ve been thinking about it, discussing it, and (at times) ranting about it for a long time. But yesterday I read a post by Melissa Wiley in which she expressed some of the same frustrations I have. In I always feel like blogging on New Year’s Eve, she wrote:

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of reflection about this blog and all the other places I’ve engaged in online discourse. I’m holding most of that reflection close to the vest for now, but what I can say is that my line of thought this past year has been heavily focused on the way this blog used to support my writing life, and the ways my pattern has shifted over the years.

One thing I’ve been keenly aware of is that navigating multiple platforms—necessary at times, for good reasons—has often left me feeling scattered, digitally speaking, unsure what to put where. My Patreon (in addition to paying off the hefty medical bills of 2017) was meant to cover the overhead costs of Bonny Glen. In practice, though, I found myself constantly waffling over what to post where. Here or there or social or where?

During the pandemic years, the decision fatigue—bane of my existence—has had a dampening effect on my writing process overall. I’ve begun, and left in drafts, dozens, possibly hundreds of posts. Blog, Patreon, newsletter, Medium, Instagram. As my old Astoria landlord used to say: It’s too much! It’s too much!

Substack has perks as a platform, but—like Patreon—much of its content lives behind a paywall, and as a reader I thoroughly grok the impossibility of paying for individual subscriptions to a whole bunch of Substacks. Medium, at least, offers access to all paywalled posts for about the same monthly cost as a single Substack sub. But getting any kind of visibility on Medium is a whole nother challenge, a boring one.

And it’s all—aha, here I’m getting to the heart of it—work. It takes time. A lot, lot, lot of time. But this blog was never intended to steal time from writing my books—it was meant to support my work. I’ve written often about the role it has played in my reading/writing/thinking/mothering life, and that’s part of the more recent reflections I’m holding close for now.

What I will say is this:

Over the past several years, I’ve experimented with half a dozen strategies for refocusing my blog habits. Nothing succeeded at beating back the scatter factor. So in September, I tried something new. I put my Patreon on pause and dialed back on all forms of posting. No newsletter, not much action here on the blog, very little social media activity. I needed the break.

But privately, I was trying to restore the practice of daily blog-style writing—capturing my thoughts about what I was reading, watching, experiencing. And now, with lots of things bubbling behind the scenes, I’m ready to return to posting. But posting within some self-imposed parameters.

I don’t think we’re alone in this. I know we’re not. People are stuck on this treadmill of trying to navigate multiple platforms and they can’t get off. I don’t even play a fraction of the games that many website owners do and I’m sick of it all.

So I’m getting off.

I know the images add a lot to this website, but they also take a great deal of time. Sometimes I spend as much time finding the right image for a post and getting David to make the featured image and banner as I do writing the actual post. They are pretty and add a lot of the site, but they are a huge time suck. If I give myself two weeks to try this and I do change my mind and go back to including images in all my posts, it will take David and me multiple days to go back and add images to all of the posts that I write. That’s how much time and effort goes into make the site pretty. So it’s a bit of a gamble to do this, but I also wouldn’t be doing it now if I wasn’t fairly certain at this point.

I currently have 496 posts in my drafts folder. Most of them are there simply because they don’t have a featured image. I haven’t had the time or the energy to get that done. Otherwise hundreds of them would already be back on the site. (In addition to this is the related cost of buying images as opposed to using free ones which runs a legal risk which I won’t get into here.)

The truth is I’m a bit sad about giving up some of the beauty of the site. I’m proud of creating a uniquely beautiful space online and it won’t be the same when I made this choice. It will still be a beautiful site because I must have beauty if my name is attached. But it will be different.

Like Melissa, I’m weary of working all the things. I’ve tried so many different things (forum, membership, social media platforms, newsletters, etc.) and in the end it always come back to content. People want to read my content. They don’t even necessarily want to interact with my content. But they read what I write. And I don’t write enough because of all the other stuff that has somehow attached itself to my life as a writer.

So I’m going to write. Please give me a few weeks to sort out the approach, the website redesign, and all that goes with it. You’re going to be seeing all of it unfolding in real time since we’ll be making adjustments as we go. I don’t even know what the site is going to look like. I don’t have a plan on colors, fonts, the decorative elements, or anything. This truly will be a work in progress so each time you stop by, it may look different.

Thank you for your patience!


          
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Comments

  1. Merrilhyn

    Yes, we do not have to be fuss y for God and His work through us… Blessings and look forward to your new you.. and new more powerful than before messages from the heart that heal.Love, Merri

    Reply

  3. Thomas Yetman

    Hi Sallie,
    What initially attracted us to your sight was the ‘Quiet and Simple Life’ theme. While we enjoy hearing about your life and the intimacy it engenders I could do without the politics. I think most middle class white Christians are conservative by default. The decrepitude of the left is one of the things we want to avoid and forget for a small while. The Biblical quotes are nice. Recipes a must. Home care tips sure. But lifestyle adaptions to create a cozy, insular and stable environment is a serious plus. When I was studying at McGill back in the day (Secondary Education) we were introduced to an acronym; KISS or Keep It Simple Stupid ! Not that I or you are stupid but sometimes over complicating our objectives could drive us crazy. Cocooning, cozy, sane lifestyle is a simple and winning recipe for me. Thanks for your efforts Sallie.

    Reply

    • Sallie Borrink

      Hi Thomas,

      Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I, too, would like to escape all of the madness that surrounds us. Unfortunately the Left has capitalized on our bent to live our lives and keep to ourselves for a long time. While we’ve been minding our own business, praying, and being responsible adults, they have been plotting and advancing evil every. single. day. We’re now at the point where if we don’t push back in a hard and significant way, there will be no peace for us let alone our children or grandchildren.

      I wish I could simply write about all the peaceful and cozy things. But there are so many people who can write about those things. Truthfully, many of them write about them much better than I ever could. Why? Because they live their life more completely in that than I do. Our family lives a quiet and simple life, but we also live a lot of it in our brains and on screens. We’re a brainy and artistic family that produces graphic design, art, web design, writing, discussions, etc. so it doesn’t translate the same as canning, decorating, etc. I’m fine with that. I think we’re a fun and delightful family. But it doesn’t translate well into blogging about it daily. Believe me, I’ve wished it did but it just doesn’t.

      But those women can’t do what I can do which is take in massive amounts of information, instinctively analyze it, and try to look for the truth in patterns. That’s what I’m good at doing and that’s what I need to offer the world right now. I’ll still write about the other things because they are topics that I think about. But to focus on the cozy and leave behind the issues of culture, politics, current events, etc. is something I don’t believe I have the freedom to do. Every time I try to back off it, I am compelled to get back into it. Just ask my longtime readers. I’ve done this song and dance so. many. times. Why? Because it is hard to be different. It’s hard to be the one who talks about the hard topics because I know it will drive people away. It’s much nicer to be the website where people can escape the problems of the world as opposed to the one where the writer tells you the really hard and sometimes very sad truths.

      I hope that helps you and the others who will read this understand where I’m coming from. I want to be a good steward of my time and gifts. Focusing a lot of time on things that don’t matter as much (pictures and feel-good content) like I have been is something I feel compelled to change. I’m excited to see how God will work.

      Sallie

      Reply

  4. CD

    It’s about content. (imho). Words can paint beautiful images and feelings. Part of what has stopped me from really blogging “for real” is the fact that I don’t (want) to have time to find images, think about layout and design, colors, fonts etc… as much as I love graphic design and marketing and that whole side of things – when I want to write, I just want. to. write. Full Stop. Go for it. And just a thought – should you decide to not stay in your ‘no frills’ zone… maybe consider leaving it no frills and not worry about going back and fluffing it up with the images etc… it’s a part of your website/blogging journey ♥. In harmony, ♫ CD

    Reply

    • Sallie Borrink

      Hi CD,

      I agree that for writers, it is about the content. There have been many days I’ve wished I had just kept with the content for the past 18 years. Done my thing and not tried this, that, and the other thing. But we all live and learn. I did learn even from the experiences that didn’t go the way I wanted.

      On the plus side in my situation, every time I change something on my website my husband learns a new skill that translates into our business. So in those cases (design, plugins, customizing, etc.), it’s time well spent. Some of the other stuff? Not so much.

      So, yes! Write your content and don’t worry about the other things if you don’t want to!

      Sallie

      Reply

  5. Melinda Dunn

    Hi Sallie, I encourage you to make it what you want it to be. I look forward to your experiments and applaud your determination to persevere and create your unique quest for beauty and truth.

    Reply

  6. Cheryl

    Sallie, you will be in my prayers as you pursue this. I understand what you mean by feeling scattered with all of the online distractions. Blessings as you move forward with this. I hope you find joy in it, and I’m looking forward to reading.

    Reply

  9. Birdie

    Hello Sallie;

    I mostly read – blogs (a few), news, creation/evolution, ect. because I feel like I’m sitting down to tea and a visit. I like watching videos for historical, world events, some classical movies and personal/finance. That is why I continue to enjoy your posts, no matter what you put. The art banners are beautiful but you need a balance. “Less is more” appeals to me because of the way my brain processes information and retains it.

    I think that busy webs/youtube/blogs feed into our incredibly short attention spans. I noticed that those that have either scaled back on their blogs or stopped posting because of the pressures they burned out are coming back and just blogging in the simplest way that they can. I do recognize that many of you need to monetize because it is employment.

    Birdie

    Reply

    • Sallie Borrink

      Hi Birdie,

      Thank you for your comment. So many bloggers, website owners, printable creators, and YouTubers are struggling right now. The algorithms in search engines are all messed up, ad revenue is tanking across the board, woke companies are failing due to diversity hires which is impacting their bottom line, and so on. I have no idea where all this goes in the coming year, but it’s a big issue for so many people right now.

      Have a good day!
      Sallie

      Reply

  10. Joslyn

    I am so glad you are going back to the “ old style” Sallie.I have missed reading your content.I can’t sort through oh I can read this or nope,that is all locked up.I don’t get to read it.Too time consuming.I have missed reading your site.I will happily try to click ads or whatever it takes just to read what you write in the way you have always done it.You are a gifted writer that I can relate to in so many ways.Yay for old fashioned blogging! Simple is best.
    Joslyn

    Reply

  11. S.L.

    I’m a fairly new follower, (catching up) and here because of your subject content and right-to-the-point reading — no fillers to navigate around. Keep the politics! A no-vote from us is an “extra” vote for them. Folks need the *right* information.

    Reply

  12. Sallie Borrink

    Okay, I figured out the answer to my experiment. It took ten days of trying to figure out the root problems, but it came to me this morning. Answer is in motion at the moment even though you can’t see it yet on the public side. I think it will make everyone happy. ♥

    Reply

  13. Sallie Borrink

    My two week experiment was what I needed to think through my options. It took me about ten days before the lightbulb over my head went on. These were the main issues.

    I want a pretty website which means I don’t want to give up the featured image on each post. I tried it for a few days last week and I just hated the way this site looked.

    I want to write about current events throughout the day and week. I don’t want mess with graphics for them because it’s too time-consuming.

    I don’t want a second website.

    I don’t want people to avoid this website because they cannot deal with news and cultural stories right now.

    I suspect that this website is being penalized mightily for having conservative political content on it which is reflected in the fact that many of my non-political posts and products are no longer surfaced in search engines or have dropped dramatically. By removing the political and going to what search engines deem “acceptable” content I will probably see my site do better with search traffic.

    In the end, I was able to accomplish meeting four of the five needs. There was no way to meet all five of those. I had to go with a second website.

    So here’s what we did. We cloned the website you are on right now down to every jot and tittle. We put that copy on a new domain that matches the name of the podcast I have already been doing. I’ve got the new site set up in a basic way. Now I’m starting the process of redirecting all of the relevant posts from this site to the new one. As I redirect each post, it will get deleted here. I hope to have this all done this week. When you check out the new website, you’ll be able to see which categories were moved over there. There are a lot of behind the scenes details to take care of this week.

    The new site will be pure blogging. It doesn’t have a mailing list or anything yet so if you are interested in reading it, you’ll need to do the very old-fashioned thing and set a bookmark and pop by throughout the day. LOL! I will set up a mailing list, but I haven’t done it yet. There is a red bell option for push notifications over there.

    In the end, this was the only option. It was either a second website or stop writing about news, culture, and current events (and conspiracy theories!). A friend asked me how I was going to get that need met if I just deleted all of it off here which was my tentative plan at one point. She’s right. It’s a need for me and posting blurbs on Gab or Twitter will not be enough for me.

    The thing that made it work was the ability to clone the site which made it very easy to do this. That epiphany I credit to the Lord.

    And now that I’ll be free from the restraints of this website, I’ll write about other topics I haven’t ventured into. It should be fun!

    I’ve put a link in each header menu to make it easy to jump from one site to the other for those who are so inclined. You can also find it right here:

    https://salliesrebuildingamerica.com

    I hope this solution works for everyone!

    Reply

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