Just a thought...
I remember the days of handwritten letters. I would write my 93 year old mother-in-law and my Auntie who is 86 on the prettiest letter paper. We waited with time, anxiously wondering what the reply would entail.
As I was reflecting on my early days of blogging, I was self taught and followed along with good advice from some professional bloggers, and still do.
I enjoyed leaving comments of thanks, praise and encouragement along the way and was always grateful to receive a kind reply. My dear readers, you have made the journey worthwhile. And I am truly grateful I have not been hit hard with spammers and unkind notes as others have.
But then I started noticing a shift in pattern, a huge change if you will. The pace of modern technology increasing with many platforms of social networking and the thought that you can be heard around the world is mind boggling to me. Even FaceBook, Twitter and Google ground rules are forever changing.
And yet, there seems to be no internet police watching over my shoulder letting me know what the guide\lines are. Just my own conscience dictates with my own creativity what I choose to write about.
But then, when I look back on all my interests and the fun I've had in participating in various themes, for instance book memes, photography contests, giveaways and such, sometimes I see how easy it is to be distracted from the main thing, and for me that is writing.
When I look at the inner workings of blogger, to view my stats and see my followers, I'm so appreciative that I made it this far in a world wide communicative family. As I look deeper, I notice that some of the blogs I follow, well there number of followers have increased to triple and quadruple numbers. I seldom hear from them. In addition to "no comment" on my blog, I am not listed in their blogroll. I conclude that everyone is so busy and there is no need to reciprocate. Now, I get it.
After having one of those "a-ha moments," I decided to incorporate a technique they use on Twitter where you unfollow people who are not following you. My, my... now we can pick and choose what interests us in commonality of purpose. Perhaps it's about what we like and what they have to
say and how they say it.
Remember the Golden Rule? Jesus said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
The Mahabharata tells followers of sum of Dharma: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you."
The Yoruba of Nigeria say, "One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts."
And the Lakota religious leader Black Elk taught, "All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One."
For those who choose to stop by, commenting frequently and from time to time, and you know who you are, I thank you for sharing a little corner of your world with me.
Blessings,
“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." C. S. Lewis
I remember the days of handwritten letters. I would write my 93 year old mother-in-law and my Auntie who is 86 on the prettiest letter paper. We waited with time, anxiously wondering what the reply would entail.
As I was reflecting on my early days of blogging, I was self taught and followed along with good advice from some professional bloggers, and still do.
I enjoyed leaving comments of thanks, praise and encouragement along the way and was always grateful to receive a kind reply. My dear readers, you have made the journey worthwhile. And I am truly grateful I have not been hit hard with spammers and unkind notes as others have.
But then I started noticing a shift in pattern, a huge change if you will. The pace of modern technology increasing with many platforms of social networking and the thought that you can be heard around the world is mind boggling to me. Even FaceBook, Twitter and Google ground rules are forever changing.
And yet, there seems to be no internet police watching over my shoulder letting me know what the guide\lines are. Just my own conscience dictates with my own creativity what I choose to write about.
But then, when I look back on all my interests and the fun I've had in participating in various themes, for instance book memes, photography contests, giveaways and such, sometimes I see how easy it is to be distracted from the main thing, and for me that is writing.
When I look at the inner workings of blogger, to view my stats and see my followers, I'm so appreciative that I made it this far in a world wide communicative family. As I look deeper, I notice that some of the blogs I follow, well there number of followers have increased to triple and quadruple numbers. I seldom hear from them. In addition to "no comment" on my blog, I am not listed in their blogroll. I conclude that everyone is so busy and there is no need to reciprocate. Now, I get it.
After having one of those "a-ha moments," I decided to incorporate a technique they use on Twitter where you unfollow people who are not following you. My, my... now we can pick and choose what interests us in commonality of purpose. Perhaps it's about what we like and what they have to
say and how they say it.
Yes, on a positive note, I count my blessings and have made a list of the pros on some of the perks to blogging:
Because of the Internet, I have friends around the world and many of them stop by and comment. I have grown as a writer and a teacher. People buy the products I endorse and that is a good thing because there is trust and the resources are good. And I have tremendous personal satisfaction in helping others.
So, if you have come to a crossroad in life, as I have, then at best, it is time to resharpen and refocus with determination, setting good habits for yourself on who to follow... or is it really a numbers game I ask you?Remember the Golden Rule? Jesus said, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
The Mahabharata tells followers of sum of Dharma: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you."
The Yoruba of Nigeria say, "One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts."
And the Lakota religious leader Black Elk taught, "All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One."
For those who choose to stop by, commenting frequently and from time to time, and you know who you are, I thank you for sharing a little corner of your world with me.
Blessings,
“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me." C. S. Lewis
No comments:
Post a Comment
As always, so nice to hear from you!