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It doesn’t take a detective to see that I haven’t been posting as much as usual lately. I carry the guilt about this around with me wherever I go, it hangs over me as I run errands on my lunch break; it overcomes me as I clean the kitchen after dinner; it follows me into the grocery store; it keeps me awake at night. Why aren’t you posting? Why haven’t you updated? What is wrong with you?
This is crazy, really, when you think about the fact that I’ve never seen one red cent from my own blogs. Don’t get me wrong here – blogging has changed my life and made me a more creative, thoughtful, insightful, skilled professional. It’s expanded my studies and helped me establish connections with people who challenge and encourage and inspire me. It’s what I’d call professional development on steroids, and that’s what I told the college class I recently spoke to. And I mean it, truly. In fact, it’s one of the single best things I’ve ever done for my career. It’s more than a trivial thing in my life; it’s a passion.
But that doesn’t explain the fact that I feel inspired to develop a new blog just to tackle the subject of – blog/life balance. I’m temped, but it’s almost too ironic. Well, what the heck. Let’s have a go of it, and see what happens.
Because my generation is already fighting the information overload epidemic. We’re so addicted to our connections they can actually become a hazard to our health and to the wellbeing of others.
But we’re also in the midst of trying to define our lives. To figure out who and what to build our lives around. Starting families, careers, marriages. Looking for meaning, change, value.
So it’s time we start looking up at the world that’s around us before it becomes so unfamiliar, we start sounding like one of my favorite Wall-E characters, Mary, who realizes one day with amazement, “We have a pool?” when it’s been there her whole life, she’s just never looked up from the screen in front of her face.
For me, it’s time I stop being worried that I went to see a movie with my husband’s family this weekend instead of staying home to blog.
We talk and we write and we debate about balance. But what we really need sometimes, it turns out, is to get off kilter every once in a while.
To lean, hard, on the side where life is, guilt-free, with abandon, loving every minute of it.
It’s seems too easy to become obsessed with certain things. I find that when something seems to be taking over my life, I’ve lost perspective. And, literally, just stopping tends to put me back towards the middle.
@ Amanda – The idea of perspective is important to this conversation… not just seeing where you are, but the trajectory of where you’re headed.
I think that with all things, even blogging, the idea of moderation is important. Important, but hard. That’s why you need to have people who are willing to say things like, hey, you need to step back for a minute.
So much of the pressure to do, go, push, especially when it comes to blogging, is this enormous peer pressure that it has. Usually, it’s very positive pressure, because it makes you deliver, improve, expand. But it can be difficult too, because sometimes, it can make you over-commit. So what is important to realize is that you need to be your best self, whatever that means.
Because in reality, blogging has this great huge open sky potential… potential to obsess over it 24/7, which is dangerous. But also potential to be a personal laboratory where you can work out for yourself how to focus your time and energy best and still get a powerful, meaningful result.
You are right, since I blog I feel more creative and thoughtfull. I become more skilled and self-independent. Blogging is the reakl way for self-education and development
I too have felt the pressures of blogging….wondering if it is normal to feel guilty for my extended absences. I also felt somewhat pigeonholed by my PR blog, as my life has expanded so much I wanted to write on more personal topics.
So with that in mind I created a second blog, that is more about life, balance, family, etc.
http://dancinginmyhead.wordpress.com/
I have never made any money off my blogs but I do feel they are a worthwhile endeavor. They have certainly opened up new doors for me personally and professionally.
Don’t feel bad about taking a break and finding some balance. Life is short so enjoy every moment.