I’m going to do something unusual today but it’s something I always wanted to do; talk about my dreams. And not the kind of dreams as in ‘when I grow up I am going to live in a house by the sea and be the vice president of marketing at a successful company’ but the ‘I just woke up and what the hell was that dream all about’ kind.
If you know me in my personal life or have ever worked with me in an office, you know I dream A LOT. I know we all dream, but I remember at least 3 dreams every day from the night before. And yes I dream about work (although I am told this is not a good thing) and I dream about my pets and my family and out of character who knows how my mind comes up with this stuff things. But last night I had this dream about the end of blogging. Here is how it went (and sorry it’s so short but that’s how dreams are sometimes):
In my dream, this gadget (looks like a Bluetooth) came from the sky and landed in my ear. The piece that is touching my ear was pumping content into my head. The ‘voice’ was telling me to let everyone know to stop blogging, that it had run its course, the fun, excitement and popularity of it was over. I was in a crowd, so I got up on a soapbox and started to speak out to people about these ideas. Everyone looked concerned and wary of me and these ideas. <the end>
Over the last few weeks, I have questioned whether or not I could keep up with this blog now that I am working full-time. Starting a blog was something I always wanted to do but how much of the ‘wanting’ was really fueled by passion? Then, Mack Collier asked, ‘what happens when you lose your love of blogging’? Before I even read the post, I was crushed. Mack Collier, founder of #BlogChat, losing his love of blogging? What?!?
Now Mack wasn’t coming out and saying that he didn’t like blogging or believe in it any longer but he felt that he was doing something just to do it. To cross it off the list. Upload new blog post to site. Check. Done. He wants the blog to mean more than that. He wants it to be a communication vehicle when he has something to say, not a communication vehicle pumped full of content for the sake of an expectant community.
So why blog?
I can tell you why I blog. It’s very simple really. You ready? I LOVE to write! I love it. I have always loved it. In fact, during the summer when I was home from college, I begged my parents to enroll my in writing courses at the local college. I spent my summers in classrooms learning how to write – for fun!
When I discovered blogging, I was ecstatic. I could write for work? This is a job? Seriously? I fell in love and haven’t lost it. It’s tough for me to come up with topics sometimes and it’s especially tough for me to sit down and write when I am sick or in pain (did you hear about the bone extraction in my mouth? Ouch!) but I do it.
Now while I only post 2 times per week so far (on this blog anyways), I have questioned whether to bump that up to 3 or 4 with the intent that I would reach an every day posting schedule. Now Mack has me questioning that because I never want to commit to something that will ultimately be a letdown. That’s not why I am here and that’s not why I blog. Building a community is one thing, but it’s not the only thing. Like Marcus Sheridan said recently ‘eventually you have to do something’ and I intend to do it.
You know what? Relationships take work. Love takes commitment. And it’s hard to ‘do something’ every day or every other day, especially when you have nothing to say, right? Will blogging go the way of the buffalo? Will we always have something to write about? Something our community wants to read? Something more we could be doing beyond our blog?
The answer is up to you.