Blogging Every Day
Report From PIA – January 31
I’m at the six-month mark in my commitment to post a Report From PIA every day. It was cold outside today, but the sky was a clear blue and the sun, still low in the sky, lit up every plant that hasn’t gone to ground for the winter. I especially appreciated the Sedum and Sempervivum this afternoon, because they add color to the bare ground, so I took some pictures for today’s entry.
Blogging every day has been work, no doubt about it. Since I’m a writer, I can’t be content with something dashed off and posted; I write, edit, rewrite, and rewrite again. For me, part of the challenge is to put enough down to convey what I want to say, but to get rid of all the extra words. Believe me, there are always extra words.
One of my core beliefs is that the good stuff usually takes some effort. Posting every day is work, but like gardening, that labor brings gifts beyond what you set out to create.
Daily blogging is a good writing exercise. Saying publicly that you intend to post daily provides the discipline to sit down, consider thoughtfully, organize your musings and write them down. I have never kept a daily journal, nor decided to regularly write from one perspective, but this blog gives me a reason, and the self-control, to do that.
Knowing that I need to post daily means that I’m constantly keeping my antennae up. This is the biggest gift in this whole exercise. I need to be alert, watching for things that are especially interesting or thought provoking. I have to be more reflective and look at my daily experiences from a variety of viewpoints. Writing on a daily basis keeps me awake.
Because I choose to use photographs as part of my posts, blogging regularly sharpens my vision as well. I need to grab my camera and see what’s there, even on days when I’m feeling lazy, or when the weather isn’t very welcoming. I am prompted to look at my gardens (real and metaphorical) more closely, and to pay attention, both to the little things and the overall landscape.
Blogging every day has introduced me to new people that I probably wouldn’t have connected with had they not found something interesting here. It’s kept me in touch with friends, who tell me that they stop by frequently, even if they don’t always comment. Thanks, guys! I believe that our lives are enriched by these connections.
Because I want to increase such contacts, I started to use facebook and twitter each day as well, and love how these digital “back fences” turn the world into a small town.
Writing a daily post is also an exercise in faith. Most days I have no idea what I’ll write about, and I walk through the day believing that the subject of the day will appear. It always has.
Daily blog posting has made me rich and famous. Not really…just seeing if you’re paying attention. Although I can truly say that all of the above is a type of wealth, so perhaps writing daily has made me prosperous after all. I’m hoping that this blog continues to connect me with others. It may give those who want to hire me as a speaker, or publish future books, a better understanding of how I connect gardening with the rest of life. It may be a path to a destination that I don’t yet see.
So here, at the halfway point, I’m thinking that I may not stop this practice when I reach the end of August. I’ve grown fond of my readers and being more open to inspiration. Like the Sedum and Sempervivum that I photographed today, my daily posts add color to my life.
The hens and chicks by the stepping stones have turned purple - I must plant some other varieties and create a tapestry!
Sedum 'Angelina' is lime-green in the summer and golden-coral in the winter. It grows quickly too - a great ground cover plant.
Fast growing and low, Sedum lydium is one of the Stepables plants. It is bright green in the summer and red in the winter.
January 31st, 2010 at 5:33 pm
I’m approaching my six-month anniversary of everyday posting in 10 days. I know how hard it can be, but what benefits it brings. Congratulations to you on having made it thus far! (I’m considering lightening my load by only posting 5 days a week, but you’ve certainly given me pause in my considerations.)
January 31st, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Hey, Meredith. I’m glad that you understand, and know that as in the garden, there is no one right way. We all plant and cultivate as best we can.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
I’ve been posting on my perfume blog daily since October of last year – well, daily except for two scheduled posts this month when I was computerless for a weekend; I need to get that mobile blogging thing working.
I’ve found that it adds a lot more focus and interest to that hobby, and also that I’m enjoying the writing. I’d like to feel that same increased focus on my gardening, so I’m debating also posting daily in my general-and-garden blog.
Have you heard of NaBloPoMo? (National Blog Posting Month)? Every month, they have a blogroll of bloggers that are resolving to post daily that month. Just in case you feel the need for more company.
February 9th, 2010 at 6:34 am
A perfume blog! What a great idea – I just stopped by and your post about Toykomilk Song in D Minor got me going right to Amazon to buy some. My problem with scent is that just when I find one that I love, it’s discontinued in a year or two. I’ve loved Casswell Massey’s Carnation (sweeter than most Carnation scents), Fresh’s Sweet Pea (the original version which they made less sweet) and Limon from Thymes… all gone. Sigh.
I’m a member of NaBloPoMo – what a name! – and it’s interesting to hear about other’s experiences with daily blogging.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Woohoo! (About buying the perfume.) I’m glad that the post was helpful.
Yeah, and if it isn’t discontinued it’s reformulated into a shadow of its former self. An oversized perfume collection is an advantage in that area – I have enough perfume now, and wear each one infrequently enough, that one full bottle will last me the rest of my life. (As long as I keep it cool and dark and it’s not one of the very few perfumes that goes bad quickly even under those circumstances.) So I only have to lament the loss of art and the fact that it’s too late to recommend it to someone else.
February 12th, 2010 at 8:03 am
Blogging every day gets to be a disease. I started my journal in March of 2000 and have written an entry daily, with very, very few exceptions (when I wasn’t near a computer) ever since. In September of 2007 when people wanted to subscribe (and since my journal wasn’t set up for easy RSS feed), I set up a mirror blog on Blogger so now I have TWO blogs every day (though with identical content). It really has kind of defined my life in the last 10 years. (Ten year journalversary is next month!)
February 12th, 2010 at 1:34 pm
Bev, I’d say discipline, not disease! As long as you know why you blog every day, that’s all that’s important. Ten years: impressive!