Riding a Tidal Blog.

Ahoy!
I always say that the NYTimes is a bit behind the times. Sometimes even more than a bit. Often the trends or issues 'discovered' by the Times journalists are such afterthoughts by the time the paper runs, that you forgot that you had pondered very similar theories and 'relevant cultural musings' months ago, when they were still novel and thought provoking.

So, the genius trend followers wrote an article about Bloggers in the Sunday Style section back in beginning of June (and yes, in keeping with the above remarks, I too am demonstrating a remarkably slow response time to this article). The general gist of the article was about how millions of people start blogs but never get beyond the initially exciting first few posts before they give up and let the blog die a slow, slow death.

"...Mrs. Nichols speaks about her blog as if it were a diet or half-finished novel. 'I’m going to get back to it,” she swears. Her last entry, in December of last year, was curt and none too profound. Like Mrs. Nichols, many people start blogs with lofty aspirations — to build an audience and leave their day job, to land a book deal, or simply to share their genius with the world. Getting started is easy, since all it takes to maintain a blog is a little time and inspiration. So why do blogs have a higher failure rate than restaurants?"

Many blog abandoners were in it for the fame and fortune, thinking that once they started jabbering about something cool and trendy, someone would be there to pay them the big bucks. A book deal waiting to happen, (a la Julie and Julia) sponsors lining up to reward your hard coffee house Pulitzer worthy words. I can only speak for myself.

The article hypothesizes that 95% of all blogs are abandoned. Wow. That is hell of a lot of percents. (I've gone even farther than most bloggers, abandoning 2 previous blogs and leaving them to mold on the wayside.) The fact that there are countless blogs out there in the webisphere, unattended to and left to rot, made me think even more about why is is that I am even bothering with this seemingly purposeless task of talking to myself via an imaginary audience.

Blogging is a true self centered exercise. Those who know me know I am not a horn tooter or a fan of those who do. I am also not known as a keeper of journals or diaries and if I have ever attempted to be one, the books are many and the pages filled are few. (as attested to in a previous post on this blog...)
I'm no Times journalist, but if I had to really think about why I persevere with this exercise I would have to state the obvious. Writing deep thoughts and musings are simple, cheap therapy. Working out my thoughts in writing is helping the process of leaving one life in search of another. As I read back on the past 37 posts I have written since starting our life in exile, I've been able to see the journey a bit more clearly and objectively. It has been healing. And entertaining. A way of getting out of my head and thinking critically about the process. Who knows what the next step will bring - it's the adventure of not knowing that is so exciting.

From frozen lakes in Minnesota to mushroom boutiques in Montreal, to Ayrshire cows in Vermont.

So there, another meta meta blog about blogs.

Anchors Away!