At a luncheon yesterday, I was reminded by a speaker of the pitfall of forgetting our first love. In his case, he was talking about the life of research faculty, most of whom began their work out of curiosity to understand the way the world worked and their love of study. Along the way, there are many aspects of their lives that easily can supplant that first love–tenure and promotion, seeking grants and funding, awards and recognitions, and citations of one’s work.
It seems that there is a temptation to this in just about any pursuit. I’ve discovered that is even true of blogging! I got into this about six months ago at the encouragement of a few friends who appreciated some of the reviews of books and other writing I had posted on other sites. And I’ve discovered in the process a love for writing and expression in this form that I don’t think I had been fully aware of. Part of this comes back to why I am such a bookish person–I love living at the intersection of the love of God and love of learning and encouraging others in the discovery of the intersection of these two. And I love sharing my own reflections, however poorly crafted, on books, reading and life.
Along the way, I’ve discovered that there are temptations in the blog world to stray from this first love, just as there are in other pursuits. Some of these for me:
1. The dangers of paying too much attention to your stats. It is fascinating to watch how many views a post gets, how many are following your blog, which posts attract the most attention, get re-blogged or receive “pingbacks”.
2. That leads to the temptation of writing your post thinking more about attracting “views” than for what you really want to say. I’ve found myself saying, I wonder if it is a good idea to write about… because it probably won’t get many views.
3. It also means thinking about what citizenship in the blogging community looks like. I’ve heard it said that you should comment on other blogs to build following. I’d hope people comment on my blog because something I’ve written genuinely engages them. It only seems just that I do the same.
4. It is really tempting to get into “platform building” even if you aren’t trying to publish a book. For this blog, one of the temptations is getting free books for review. After all, who doesn’t love free books! The crazy part of this is that pretty soon, this thing can move from simply talking about what I love about books, reading, and life to obsessing how to get, and then how to find time to read and review those books.
The speaker I heard talked about the idea that the best place is probably one of tension. And I suspect this makes sense here as well. No one pursues any artistic endeavor simply to stick it in a drawer, a closet or to conceal it in your own studio. We blog not only as self-expression but to engage a wider community around the things we love which means both focusing on our love, and thinking about the world we want to engage. But it seems vital to do so in a way where we never compromise the love that got us into this in the first place.
One thought I’ve had is that perhaps my Lenten fast this year might be a fast from looking at my stats. I wonder how those of you who have done this longer than I deal with the things that can distract from your first love.