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Friday 18 September 2009

Just wondering..


I read an article somewhere recently in which the writer deplored the fact that so many people spend so much time taking digital photos that they must live their lives in retrospect through their photos and not by actually seeing things in the moment. I thought about this and it seems to me that whilst there must be some truth in this statement there are also those of us who actually see more when we are thinking of sharing what we see with others. I know that I have become more aware of things I might otherwise have missed since I began blogging. What do you think - what are your thoughts on this subject? Discuss!



I have realised however that being a blogger - I guess I am now qualified to call myself that - I am less likely to really concentrate on other blogs and tend to flit through them as they grow ever larger in number. Every comment needs to have its author checked out and on every page there is bound to be another blog that takes my fancy thus I am becoming something of a butterfly and just flitting through the pages and like a child watching Sesame Street my concentration span is growing ever shorter as I dash on to the next. Do you find this happens to you too?



What is the answer to this I wonder? Should I limit my time on the computer and also limit the blogs I follow so as to give them the full attention many of them deserve? I have already made a few real friends with whom I feel a proper rapport and we sometimes exchange e-mails. Should I stop there or keep trying to reach out to everybody?




Why do we blog? Is it to share things we feel are important enough to warrant sharing, to please other bloggers, to please ourselves as a sort of on-line journal, to reach out to other like minded bloggers and to become inspired (and maybe in our own small way to inspire them) to try out their creative ideas....or why?



If it is to please others do they, like me, find themselves wanting a quick fix of plenty of pictures and not too much text so they can get on to the next blog? I notice that the blog pages I do of my craft endeavours seem to attract more comments than those of places I have been - should I then be posting more of those or should I carry on pleasing myself or even dare I say it stop altogether and just be a follower (which has occured to me)? Should I vary my blog to include crafts as well as outings and general chit chat? How long should a blog be - should it be brief with only a couple of photos or longer with lots of pictures? Do you enjoy the French Idyll slot - shall I continue with that? Is my blog up to scratch or are there changes I could/should make? Kate over at The Garden Bell seems to be asking some similar questions about blog content too - is it just us newbies that need help in this respect?





When I first came to blogging I read just a few pages and felt inspired to be more creative like their writers but now I seem to have begun blogging for the sake of it and am spending creative time on the computer which could perhaps be better spent on creating something real. My scrapbook pages remain pristine, my yarn stash is still in the bag, my patchwork is not yet made up into anything...



Thought I ought to illustrate this with some pictures - these were all taken yesterday when we went to Barrington Court - a National Trust property near here - for lunch and a wander round in the sunshine.


I look forward to hearing your views on the above.
Have a good weekend.

12 comments:

  1. So well put. You must have been reading my mind. I do have to say that the words just seem to flow ever so smoothly for you. I have never been a "writer" as such, so each and everyone seems to be a strecht for me. I do say to myself...it's actually probably good for me and keeping that minds active, but it can be work. So for me personally, I love the picture part. I absorb everyone of the my friends in other parts of the worlds wonderful surrounding. Color is a brain stym for me, as I know I'm a visual person.

    I too, have found that the crafting part seems to bring more comments and viewers. I enjoy taking the pic, but also love my garden and other surroundings. I have, like you,found myself looking around more at where I'm at. Thinking about what would be a good picture. But, my concern is am I taking it for myself or for the blog. I guess sometimes both.

    So after this rambling, I will leave you with the thought that I loved each and every picture and word above.....so keep on going.

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  2. - I do notice more things around me now that I take pictures for my blog and I do appreciate little things more; this makes me happy for at least a few moments every day.
    - I can see what you mean about the number of blogs we read expanding. What I did is that I read lots of blogs before work began and chose some that I liked to follow. So now I have a list of 'friends' that I know will blog about something I like and when and if I have time I explore some more. But then again I don't have as many followers (I've always wondered how people with hundreds of followers keep up) so I can enjoy going back to their blogs too.
    - Why are you looking for rules? The blog is something personal in that you establish your own rules. Personally, I blog when I have something to share with my future self and keep in touch with the world around me. I'd be delighted if I make e-mail friends too but then again that's not an end in itself.
    -I feel addicted too and my ironing is still waiting. And I know really well why. After my mum died I felt I needed to travel to places new to me and talk to people who didn't know how much she suffered; something like a way for my wounds to heal. This was not possible of course and then I discovered blogging. It helped me so much you won't believe it. Now that work has started I'm not blogging as much and of course I don't take time away from my family. As for the housework, who cares, really? It never ends anyway.
    So don't worry so much. Post whenever you feel like it and stick to some blogs you really enjoy so that there's time for your crafts, too.
    Ok, this was the longest comment I've ever left. Maybe longer than my longest post even!!!
    Sorry if I tired you.
    Take Care!
    (thank God it's Friday!)

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  3. Gosh, I feel just like you! I have certainly become more aware of life around me and have seriously neglected all household duties thanks to my blog reading addiction. :-) I must tell you that I LOVE every picture and word you post in your blog (todays are a real treat and I dearly wish I could visit your side of the pond again soon), so please don't stop! Hope you have a lovely weekend.
    Louise

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  4. It's a difficult one, but I do so understand where you are coming from as having asked myself all these questions and more.

    I love blogging and I love the connection it makes with other people though it is becoming more and more difficult trying to keep up with replying to everyone. I've found myself more and more focusing on not trying to hurt anyone's feelings by replying - if I can to every comment, every message than I probably do on the things I love like my family, cooking, crafting, walking and much, much more.

    It's a tricky balance I know and one I am still trying to figure out, but hopefully a happy medium I will get to at some point - one way or another.

    As for pictures, I see so many things in so many different ways that if I look at something I can see a picture within a picture but then if I try and capture what I see or feel it comes out differently again - sometimes good, sometimes not so good.

    Anyway, I doubt whether that helps, but thank you for posting the questions.

    Have a lovely weekend,

    Nina x

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  5. I think your blog is just lovely, and no need for you to change it at all. It's honest, warm and friendly, and I think those things are v important.
    I also think first and foremost blogging should be ABSOLUTELY for the blogger who is writing :: considering comments and visitors etc comes a def second. I try never to blog for other people, only for me me me LOL!!!!!!!!! It juts so happens that the two are compatible, but I would truly blog if noone at all commented or read my words, cos i love to record things and look back on my own archives often.
    I think :: don't try too hard!! Let it be a natural progression, and honest reflection of your life and your thoughts.
    You are doing GREAT.
    Lucexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  6. What a questionning article!
    Very interesting in fact!

    I never really asked those questions to myself, but I started blogging because I like seing others creations and I thought "maybe I'd like to see my own creations and crochet things etc... on a blog too?" Kind of, look at them with an other eye, as one's own visitor.

    I think it's really fun to comment back & forth on blogs, I don't think expanding one's blog visits to a billion blogs is "bad" but neglect those blogs one really likes because of that is sad.
    Currently, I love reading and taking my time on your blog, Garden Bells', Gephart's, Attic24's and Mia's Landliv's. It gives a quite lovelier perspective to know a little bit about the person via comments, blog articles etc.. that just rush-visiting.


    Have a lovely weekend!

    XXX

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  7. I think that artical is terrible, i think when you take a photo you tend to study it more finding the best angles and possitions to take the photo. I also think your blog is great adn wish mine would just touch on how great yours is! I always love visiting your blog because you always have something interesting to say or some thing to show and its always great!!
    have a nice weekend
    Lucy xx

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  8. Hmm! I think all us bloggers go through the same sort of feelings at some point. Blog for you, be yourself.
    If you have lots to say then it will be a long post. If you've seen something interesting then there will be lots of photos.
    Just do your own thing girl and enjoy it.

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  9. I see a blog as reflecting who you are and what your interests are. I post about things which I want to write about. It is true that it is difficult to look at all the blogs we follow.
    I think that all bloggers have the same issue maybe some don't work and have more time than others. I am self employed and do not have as much time to blog as I'd like to sometimes. I started in February this year and love it! When I started out, I didn't expect blog land to be as friendly as it is.

    Regarding your posts, I think a variety of subjects is good. I love seeing where people have been as it gives me ideas.
    Blogging is there to be enjoyed, write what about things that YOU like, after all the blog is about you and what you do.

    Don't feel obliged to visit others blogs, look at them when you have the time or feel like it otherwise it will become a chore rather than a pleasure.

    You have a great blog. It would say keep it as it is.

    By the way I love taking photos with a digital camera!

    Have a great weekend
    Isabelle x

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  10. So many questions posed here. I think we have all agonised over the answers if we are in for the 'long haul'. When I first began, I was conscious of my 'audience' which I note had changed markedly, for many reasons!
    I now blog for me, which I know I did intitially, but I also reacted to commenters, who came & went. I still retain some of my original readers, a fact I find just wonderful. I feel I have made many true friends out there, in the blogosphere!
    Please, do keep your French Idyll posts, & be yourself! I love to visit & to read.
    I still say, the person we need to please the most...is ourselves!!

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  11. I do see things differently now that I blog. But I've written a newspaper column (similar to my blog) for 12 years and I think of my blog as my column with pictures.

    I liken it to books and television. If you read the book, you imagine the space the characters live in while if you see the adaptation of the book as a movie or on television, it's all laid out for you.

    But I also think that the pictures are the creative side of you -- another way to show your creativeness.

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  12. I have thought many of the same things. I started to blog because (a) I love to write, and since finishing my thesis 18 months ago, I found that I really missed writing, and (b) as a way of recording the things I make and the things around me. In fact, learning to use the camera, and thinking about things to write about, have made me look more closely and be more aware of what is going on. And now I have lots of lovely photos to look back on. But I have found that it is time-consuming - if someone is kind enough to comment, or to follow, I like to acknowledge them and visit them, but it is really difficult. And then when I lost a follower today (I'm not sure who!), I then start worrying that I have offended them by not visiting their blog, or not responding to their comment - but I am finding it more and more difficult to keep track! (Or maybe they just don't find my blog interesting!) I am working during the day, and have children, etc, and it means that like so many of us I find myself rushing things, so there is a danger that the blog responding side of things just becomes another chore! I am not sure I have quite found the balance yet. But I do enjoy your blog, and it's nice to read a variety of things - craft, and garden, and France, etc. Keep on writing what you want to write about, and don't mind us - it is all very interesting so far!

    Pomona x

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