Life Is About More Than Blogs

Sitting next to the fire on a slow Sunday morning on the last day of my Thanksgiving vacation. It’s been a good week. Beautiful surroundings in Virginia, great conversations with Andrea’s brother and his fam from New York who met us there, and great food thanks to my beautiful bride and Jean, my sister-in-law.

One thing that struck me this morning as I was pouring over the latest online news, Facebook invites, Tweets and blog posts, I realized it was the first time I really had done it all week. As a guy who lives on the Internet for most of my time each day (comes with having an Internet-related job), I can definitely say that the last five days are far away from my norm.

The strange thing is that I sit here with mixed emotions. It’s not like the Internet took a few days off with me. In fact, many, if not most, of the people whom I follow didn’t even take a blogging holiday. I feel relaxed and good about the fact that I can unplug for a few days. On the other hand, I feel guilty that I should have at least blogged ahead of time and scheduled things to post while I’m away. And therein lies the crux.

Blogging and social media can become such a driving force in life if we are not careful. We have to consistently check our motives and see how and why we are approaching what we are doing online. What starts as a personal, self-satisfying practice of blogging can quickly turn into a prideful, self-focused practice when we let our motives shift. When we ‘have to’ get something written or posted or scheduled, or replies made or wall notes written because of what we perceive as others’ expectations. When we are consumed with blog stats, or Twitter followers, or Facebook friends.

I know of people who can’t miss a day or two of blogging. I know people who probably check their blog stats 2-3 times a day. I know people who try to figure out ways to build up their Twitter followers and Facebook friends so they can have larger numbers. I know people whose aim is to publish articles or write a book and who strive to build up followers to look better in the eyes of future potential publishers.

This is not a shot at any of those people whom I follow, but rather a general question for all of us to consider - me included. Life is about more than blogs. And I find that I have to remind myself of that fact.

Posted 11.30.2008

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