All the usual poster children of the blog world are in the article, talking about how they have to take a break, or have moved onto posting less calling it slow blogging. Everything has a shelf life. Or life simply becomes more demanding. Boo-fucking-hoo. Okay that was snarky. But really, The New York Times deserves it sometimes.
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| From The New York Times |
Remember when we all started blogging? We were in a fever to share and over share on a daily, if not hourly basis. I loved having other design geeks to communicate with. But sooner or later you run out of projects because you actually finish your house (for the moment). Or it takes too much time and money to produce those cute and crafty DIY posts. Or new and easier ways to photo share crop up like Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Or it gets to be a chore (like doing homework or having a deadline) to come up with posts. Or you start putting ads on your blog that have to be managed. Or your blog becomes a "brand" or a business marketing tool that needs to be constantly cultivated.
I have slowed down because I am in the thick of grief. Living without Alberto is a shadow life. I am still at the stage where getting up, getting dressed, and doing work is about all I can handle sometimes.
I don't have guilt about not blogging. My younger friends say blogs are dinosaurs. But then so am I. Some bloggers stopped because they got fed up with the cliques that wouldn't let them in. I never let my blog be the boss of me. I chose to keep it homey and personal. Wonderful things happened because of my blog in a fabulous hippie-dippie organic way: Friends, work, my book, learning things, etc. There was no master plan to take over the design world.
I am proud of my blog. I was "new" when I started in 2008. There were others that started in 2006 and 2007 who I looked up to. This blog is my life history, an archive, forever etched on the Internet. No one may care, or someone might. I care. We all want to leave our mark on the world. Blogs have enabled a zillion souls to leave a legacy. I am so thankful for the body of work that Alberto put out there via his many blogs, Youtube, Facebook, and our Planet Tango web site.
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| From the blog The Tango Life |
What about you guys? Are you still reading blogs? Are you still posting on your blogs? I can still spend a happy day clicking around reading blogs I love. It's how I stay in touch. Every post doesn't have to be a masterpiece. Sometimes I go back in my own archive to read early posts, and I love the innocence and enthusiasm. I still feel that way.
I also think we have all become victims of the over share. Along with cameras on cell phones came the thrill of documenting everything with an ease that was so exciting and seductive. But while snapping pictures we missed the actual experience of what we were taking photos of. I had some girls over for dinner. These are some of the women who have been keeping me alive these past sad months. They check in on me, feed me, lend me money, take me out, and never, never weary of my tears or talking about Alberto. I asked them to please not take any pictures or post anything anywhere. I didn't know what reaction I would get, but all of them were relieved and delighted to truly be relaxed in the selfie-less moment.
Valerie,
ReplyDeleteI wrote and shared the Eulogy for my Mother a few weeks ago. It was all about my Mom's Trademarks which was all before the Internet, before airport security and a time when phones had cords and slow mail existed. I learned so much from her about quirks and kindness. My Mother loved cards, phone calls and photos. She would have had a field day in blog land but that was not in her generation.
I think social media has certainly been a "quirky and kind" spot for me and I would have never met you or Alberto. For this, I am truly grateful.
Grief is a fickle thing and so is blogging but somehow they both keep us connected and going. I do love blogging but now there is pinterest, instagram, facebook and more.....and while we all want to share, it's important to be authentic. You my dear are authentic and honest.
Perhaps blogging will fade and be one of those things that is dated, like leg warmers or baby's breath in your hair and dyed to match satin pumps. I do love so many bloggers who have also been there for me during challenges and have given me encouragement and enthusiastic cheers and applause when my own children would give me an "eye roll."
I tease them and tell them, just you wait, those bloggers will be here for me, right up to the bitter end.
The NY times has to be true to it's form and bash things like blogging or the latest fad that seems to be 'out'- It's like they are waiting for things to die and ready to pounce on the next thing.
I am here to stay. I am an artist, mother, blogger and I love it.
So there.
That's what I think.
pve
Valorie, I could truly repeat nearly every work Patricia has said. I have never been a daily blogger, and am SO grateful to my friends and followers who watch for my weekly or so posts, longer if I am recovering from a recent surgery as has been the case the past 4 year! I relate to you so well because I lost my dear, dear husband at age 53 very suddenly and still miss him so much! I will keep blogging to support the Arts as long as I am able and have an audience!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena
I'm so sorry for your loss and grief Valorie, it's so so hard.
ReplyDeleteI admire your attitude about blogging and agree. Blogger is not the boss of me :)
I still love blogs, but the ones that are personal and homey and imperfect are the ones that have staying power for me. I always chuckle when bloggers come back after a 5 day break with huge apologies for not blogging, like we even noticed. It can be a bit egocentric, however I have cultivated friendships through blogging with wonderful people.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have noticed is that a lot of blogs are really just personal accounts of "shopping". It's one thing to document a reno project or a room redecorate, but I am noticing a trend towards a constant changing up, that is just a sign of our obsessive shopping habits. Every time I read blogs showing the latest seasonal decor, I am imaging last years getting tossed...so yes in some ways blogging has hit a low, but on the other hand, there's nothing more interesting than people, and it is the PEOPLE behind the great blogs that keep us entertained.
My friend lost her beloved a year ago. She tells me that grieving is very hard work. I am sorry for your loss of your beloved. I am happy that blogging and those you interact with through blogging, have eased your pain.
As one who has visited but never commented I have to say that your posts have been inspirational to me, both when the earlier ones were filled with joy that life held for you and the latter ones of sadness. Having started late in blogging life I knew that it was just plain taking up too much time of my life and stopped after 14 months. I missed the creative process of it and started a new one after a month, a blog with no comments. Family and friends and some blog friends visit, and I hope feel a little relief that they don't have to comment. There is always email when they want to touch base with me. I keep an ever expanding blog roll on my old blog and that's how I visit everyone, almost always popping in to enjoy and then get up to do something the visit has inspired. Which is exactly what blog visits were for me the first 3 years before I began to blog myself. It's not for everyone and I went through months of some addiction breaking but I've found my new way of enjoying blogging, if it can be called that.
ReplyDeleteI hope that the months ahead bring solace for you and I'm sure they will, what with the good friends that are there for you, and the memories, well, they will always be a part of you.
I am glad you have the friends you do, and I'm grateful for your blog and the connection it offers.
ReplyDeleteSlow blogging...I like that. A return to roots.
Again, I am sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing your grief with us.
Take care,
Ivan
Tis me, Carey:-) I'm still reading blogs, though yours is the only one I follow faithfully. Back in 2009, still unfamiliar with the internet and not even sure what a blog was, I got on Google and typed in the phrase "Hollywood Regency". One of your blog posts popped up at the top, so in I went. With your blog as a starting point I found many others. But after awhile I had to cut back on following everyone, not because I've lost interest, but just because I found myself spending hours everyday taking in all the beautiful images and interesting information. Lots of other things got neglected, and so I had to cut myself off and start over. Once I'd gone through withdrawls and a few life dramas, I came right back to your blog and reconnected. Precisely because your blog is personal and not overly glossy. You are talented and fun to follow, and you are also accessible. Your blog is a sprawling curiosity shop instead of a major department store.
ReplyDeleteYour selfies anonymous approach is brilliant. Everyone needs a place to heal, be refreshed and be authentic in peace. Even in good times, we need that peace. And blogging, like anything else, will survive or not based on something other than what the press says. Many generations co-exist all at once on this planet, and within those groups are even more groups, and so on. Most people look at the edge, but most people don't live on it. We want some consistency, some tradition, some routine, some connection. Built to last.
Thank you for this post, Valorie. I began blogging in March 2007. I've seen many changes, resisted monetizing, saw my "numbers" struggle, rise and fall. I've participated in "blog hops/parties and events" and still do,although not as many as I did in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteNever a pro blogger and never wanting or needing to be pro, I continue to post what pops into my head. Right now I tend to mention our desire to downsize and the efforts we are making. I still try to do pretty posts and my love of photography is as strong as ever. These days I am more likely to blog for myself, family, and friends. The friends are internet friends as well as personal friends. I have loyal readers who have been with me through thick and thin.
Now and then I think about closing the back porch and moving on to another hobby. However, I still enjoy the process. From the beginning, I've said when blogging becomes a job, I will quit. So far so good.
Not getting as many comments these days. But the ones left are wonderful and, oh those emails. Just when I am about to give up on one thing or another, I get the most amazing email.
I've tried every day posting. That approach was not for me. Right now I might do three or four posts per week. That suits me just fine. I like doing table settings and vignettes. I also enjoy posting about our region. I've never been one to do projects for blog subjects. I tend to do projects, then decide to post. I also write about our journey with my husband's Parkinson's Disease and other health concerns.
My blog began when I was 64 years old. I will be blogging 8 years in March 2015. I am one of the "senior" bloggers. We tend to be overlooked. We are incredible writers, photographers, thinkers, activists, etc etc etc.
PS: No burnout here...yet.
Dearest Valorie, some of the best things have come to me through blogging! When I started I felt isolated, and I found a community of like minded people. Then I found friends. Then I found confidence, I moved forward and things happened, good things, my perspective on blogs has not changed, but my time has. Now I am writing with a professional goal in mind and my blog became more of a chore then a desire to write, family life, writing and live does this sometimes, yet I still love to read some the blogs, although is has become more infrequent. MIne has to be on pause for now, not a burnout per se! Nobody should be under the pressure of keeping something forever, or for others. There is a time for everything and perhaps blogging is something which might not last, but who cares? The ones who write are happy, the ones reading too and the rest might instagram, twitter, tumblr, or sit in the cafe and chat! Live and let live is my understanding and reading you blog is a wonderful way of keeping in touch with a good friend of mine: YOU! Here is to blogging!
ReplyDeleteValorie - take your time, slow-blogging is fine by me. Your friends sound caring and lovely.
ReplyDeleteI still follow my favourite blogs - you and Cote de Texas being the longest running ones that I follow. A lot of my other favourites have closed, namely Absolutely Beautiful Things which was the first blog I ever followed.
I have recently started watching blog traffic on several blogs that I read routinely. At least on one very prominent one, traffic is way down. I suppose bloggers have reached some sort of saturation point and have become less about creativity and more about recycling. There simply isn't that much in blogland that we all haven't seen multiple times before and not everyone's remodel is that interesting or inspiring. As to your blog, Valorie, it has always been one of my constant go to reads. Your work is never redundant, always creative and never boring. I hope that as time goes by that you will continue to show us your work and the energy it reflects. I believe Alberto would want you to do this. I am always happy when you have a new post.
ReplyDeleteFormer dedicated, now sporadic blogger here. Why I'm commenting: I only recently discovered your blog, sadly around the time you lost your dear husband. My son lives in the Irish Channel and we so appreciate all the inspiration and beauty you provide here. Thank you!
ReplyDelete