So after years of blogging sporadically (which is really misleading because it much more publishing than actually happened. The truth is I blogged 4 times in 2016; I blogged once–ONCE–in 2015; I blogged 17 times in 2014. The last time I blogged reliably was 2007 when I blogged 125 times. Like that.), earlier this year (nay, this lifetime) I formulated a strong intention to blog daily. At the beginning of June I even made a commitment to myself to do it, like starting that day. And then I waited 2 months and, in a monthlong vacation from leading the Center for Spiritual Living, Davis, I actually did it.
And this is day 26 of consecutive daily blogging. People ask me “Sara, why daily?” And some ask me, “why blog?” And many more ask me, “who are you again and why are you quoting me on the internet? And do you actually really have any people asking you that? Shut up, really? You do?” Okay, maybe not “people,” maybe “person.” Maybe “person” asked me one of those questions and another person asked me the other question and nobody asked me that last question.
But really, these are questions that need to be asked of me. As far as I can tell I have 4 readers at this point: (1) my husband, (2) Mark Stell, (3) Russ Haan and possibly John Brown (not the abolitionist, the friend). Maybe my friend Lisa from high school. So not even really 4. Years ago a bunch of people said they’d like to receive my blog and signed up to receive it. Most of those people have long since changed their email addresses from AOL and Yahoo to Gmail (the top reason they changed? they no longer have to receive my blog). So, with almost no one reading it, it does beg the question, why write it?
Well, as any of my 3.5 readers know from reading my post the other day on Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, the dance with creativity is a dance in its own right. It does not have to be for profit. It does not have to have a purpose. Hell, it does not have to even be appreciated by anybody other than Creativity and the co-creator (in this case, me). And so I could tell you all this stuff about how I’m such a hot stuff writer and how every time I write every day I get “discovered” by someone and they want to publish me and all this other stuff about why I want to blog every day, but none of it would the true reason.
The truth is that the reason I want to blog every day is that when I am writing publicly every day (and have a commitment to do so), I am dancing with Creativity. And in the contract that I have with Creativity (these thoughts are greatly informed by Elizabeth Gilbert’s book), I do my part which is blogging every day and Creativity does its part which is giving me ideas.
And boy does it give me ideas! I get them in the shower. I get them when I’m driving. I get them when I’m reading the paper. All the time. Except when I brag in my blog at how many ideas I get, then I get bubkis* See there? You shouldn’t have asked.
*Noun[edit]
- Absolutely nothing; nothing of value, significance, or substance.
- We searched for hours and found bupkis.
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Etymology[edit]