On Blogging

There are some days when having a blog can feel like a heavy burden. You want to say something profound or witty (or both). It needs to be inspirational, or at least controversial. Nobody should blog about things that don't matter. (Who would want to read that?)

The pressure is greater if you've read other people's blogs. A pastor whom I think highly of has a blog ... but he hasn't update it in about a year! (I think that's dreadful.) I was talking to a marketing expert the week before last about blogging. She argued that updating a blog on a monthly basis would be sufficient to keep it fresh and relevant. (I did not share her point of view.) There's got to be a point for bloggers somewhere between every day and every year. How often do I need to blog to be "fresh and relevant?"

Then there are those people whose blogs I read and I wonder why they blog. They'll blog about their cat. They'll blog about their toes. They'll blog about rainbows. Some of them will blog about the day they've had. In some cases, that's interesting. But not if they don't do it often. I have another friend who's living in China. He started a blog so we could all share in the experience with him. I don't think he's blogged on it since March of last year. (Clearly his blog motivation is not working!)

I think about the fact that blogs are likely to outlast me. I don't know how many people read my blog. I don't know who the people that read my blog are. And I realize this blog could be in cyberspace long after I'm dead. (Who would know?) Sometimes I think about writing a blog that I could have my wife (or the executor of my estate) post for me after I'm dead. It could be sort of a good-bye message to the world. But when I sit down to write, despite my best intentions ... it sounds creepy.

Sometimes I'd like to blog about all the things I think about. But that seems like too much. Or it seems a little scandalous. Or it seems boring. Or maybe it would selfish and proud. (I would never want to be that!) I've also considered blogging about the day I've had. To be honest, I'm not sure I want everyone to know about the day I've had. They might be tempted to pity me --- or think I deserve what I got. Either way, I don't think there'd be merit in everyone knowing about me day.

Can we use a blog to increase the depth of our friendship? Can we use it to increase the sphere of our influence? Could we use a blog to build new friendships (or at least impress strangers)? Or is blogging just relegated to sharing a bit of ourselves ... and our wisdom with the world in general? (Somehow I suspect it may be the latter.)

Blogspot, who hosts this blog, often "invites" me to try and monetize my blog. That is definitely not one of the motives I've had. Should it be? I've browsed a lot of other blogs and didn't see much "monetizing" going on. I wonder how many people actually endeavor to make money by blogging. Moreover, I wonder if it would change the perspective of their readers.

I guess I'll continue blogging. I'll look to the Lord to lead my thinking. With any luck, He'll give me some thoughts that will be worth blogging about. Politics, religion, relationships, money, and several other subjects are all areas where I find myself doing a lot of thinking. As I continue my own journey through God's Word (i.e., reading the Bible) I acquire new filters to run that thinking through. Stay tuned and we'll see what kind of blogging that thinking and those ever-changing filters can produce!

On Blogging

It was a simple question, really. Why do you blog? What was interesting is that, at the time, I didn't really have a good answer. So here I am a blogger, and I don't know why. Isn't that just a little messed up? I mean - aren't I one of those "purpose driven" Christians that are so popular today? Surely I wouldn't engage in anything without there being some purpose to it.

Technorati, the blog tracking software (http://www.technorati.com/), now tracks more than 120 million distinctly separate blogs. They're written by people from all over the world. They try to categorize by topic. I'm sure that many can be easily categorized by topic. They may pertain to food, certain businesses, child raising or other such subjects. But most that I've read, including mine, tend to ramble around different subjects. (I wonder what Technorati does with those!)

As I read my own blog, sometimes I'm pretty impressed. I may be scrolling back through prior months or years and see something that will seem pretty profound. I'll think, "The world needs to hear this." Other times, maybe not so much. Certainly there are posts that don't reflect my best thinking. I'll read them and think, "Gee this is kind of embarrassing." Not long ago, I was reading an old post of mine from a couple years ago. Quite honestly, I wondered who wrote it! It seemed quite out of character for me. So I deleted it.

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Some blogs read like someone's personal diary. I would never do that ... publish my personal diary. Quite honestly, what goes on in my head probably isn't worth publishing. At the same time, I don't think I'd want to share with the world all that goes on in my head. But then I look at the musings of other bloggers, and I see that sometimes what they're sharing from their head - or heart, doesn't seem so worthwhile. Is that possible? Is there some blogging out there that isn't really worthwhile - to anyone?

Who would consider my blog to be worthwhile? I read the blog of someone I know some time ago. It had many "followers" who follow it regularly. Quite candidly, I wondered why. It didn't seem like that good of a blog. Maybe they just liked the individual that was publishing it. Certainly they had many more "followers" than I do. My competitive spirit was sparked. Suddenly I felt as if I were losing a contest or something. I found myself wishing I had more formal followers.

Of course people can read blogs without being official "followers." They may just go to the blog manually, or have it bookmarked in their browser. Perhaps they're searching for something on the Internet and the search engine suggests my site. (That's what labels on blogs are for.) Does it matter how someone gets to your blog? Does it matter how often someone gets to your blog? Shouldn't that really be tied to the value or worthiness of your blog?

If you compare blogs to TV shows, I wonder if the same set of value criteria is used to measure them. Are the things that make TV shows worthwhile the same things that make a blog worthwhile? Typically TV shows look at ratings --- how many people are watching the show. Would that really be a good way to measure blogs --- by how many people are reading them? What about TV shows like Jerry Springer? That's perhaps one of the most vile, useless shows in the English language. And yet, people watch it. Does that mean it has value?

So why do I blog? Actually I have three blogs. I think my reasons are different. This is my main blog, and its purpose is a little more lofty, intangible and hard to explain. So let me start with the easier ones.

http://www.dearvictorious.blogspot.com/ is a blog I started a while back. I was getting emails from people who read my main blog, asking me questions. Mostly they were questions about life and how to make practical applications of Biblical principles in everyday life. I got so many of them that I decided to publish them on a blog. Then more of them started coming in. Today, I seem to get enough to publish at least one new question and answer each day. Certainly, I consider this blog to be a public service. Yes, that is its purpose --- to serve others.

http://www.moderndayprophet.blogspot.com/ is another blog I started a while back. It was born out of the fact that I was finding Biblical revelations as I contemplated Scripture and talked to God each day. God would tell me things, or give me truths ... and I would write them down. I realized that they started to look like a book of proverbs - little tidbits of valuable wisdom that are based on Biblical truths. So I decided to publish and share them. Again, I have so many that it's pretty easy to keep publishing one each day. So far, nobody has ever told me they liked this particular blog. I've never gotten any emails off of it either. Still, I like to think it has a purpose --- to share the wisdom that God reveals to me. (Do you suppose anyone cares about that?)

Finally, there's this blog - my main one. It's purpose is not to help people know me better. I keep it anonymous, not really hiding - but not disclosing my true identity. Why? I suppose because I think that gives me more freedom to say what I want. If my real identity is splashed all over it, frankly, I think what I say on this blog would have to be much more filtered than it is. It's not that I don't want anyone to know who I really am. It's more that I don't think it's relevant to the point I want to make.

And there it is, my reason for blogging. It seems that I have a point I want to make. And I have one of those points every few days. Maybe it's a good point. Maybe it isn't. Maybe it's just mediocre. Still, there's something inside of me that causes me to want to make that point.

Frankly, I suspect that is the purpose that drives most bloggers. They have a point they want to make. I've long known that the human condition wants to be heard. We like to talk and we think it's important that people hear what we have to say. Perhaps blogging gives some of us an enormous outlet to do that. We can process our thinking and make our points on the blog. And maybe it doesn't matter so much who reads the point. Perhaps it's most important to us that the point get made.

Now that is messed up. Welcome to my blog!

Missing Blogs?

I remember a few months ago, it was during the presidential campaigns. Someone who apparently reads my blogs often wrote to me and asked why I hadn't blogged about Sarah Palin. To be sure, Mrs. Palin is a blog-worthy individual. I told him I was too busy and wasn't sure what to say about her. That was at least partly true too!

The fact of the matter is that, as I've pondered why I didn't blog about Sarah Palin, I've come to realize that there are several other things I probably won't blog about. Caroline Kennedy and her quest for the New York senate seat is at the top of my list right now. Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich is on my list as well.

What else are you not likely to read about on my blog?

• Cher.
• Joan Crawford.
• Laura Bush.
• The "Barack, the magic negro" parody put out by the Republicans.
• Israel's conflict with Syria.
• Michael Jackson.
• Courtney Love.
• Britney Spears.
• Nancy Reagan.
• Michelle Obama's inauguration night dress.
• Global warming.
• Hybrid automobiles.

So this is starting to become a rather substantial list --- the things I am not likely to blog about. How is it that a man who seems to have an opinion about everything would choose to remain silent about popular topics in the news? Worry not, my faithful readers. I am not devoid of opinions on these and other people or issues on my growing list. Quite honestly, they are things I have many thoughts about.

But the honest truth is that my missing blogs, or the blogs that won't get written are relegated to that status for at least one of two reasons. First, I'm not sure I have enough information to draw reasonably sound conclusions. Second, I'm not sure I can ask sufficiently intelligent questions that would help us get to reasonably sound conclusions. Or, third, I am of the opinion that the challenges presented by these individuals or issues take humanity to such a low level that they shouldn't be further justified with any attempts at intelligent dialogue.

So if you're wondering why someone or something that the world is talking about isn't showing up on my blog, your just need to figure out which one (or more) of these three reasons apply to that person or issue!