Why Blog?

(from post originally dated October 31, 2011)

Why is it that so many bloggers are questioning

whether to continue on or to close down their blogs?

I think I understand the dilemma
because I deal with it, too.

Not enough hours in the day 
and not enough energy to do it all.

But who says we have to do it all?

I started blogging 2,000 or so posts ago

because I wanted a way to focus on the good things.

(there was a lot of bad stuff to deal with back then)

I do not belong to a local quilt guild

so I don't have a lot of contact 
with other people who play with fabric.

That means y'all are my
quilting companions,

mentors,
online friends,
and kindred spirits
who understand the power of color,

who share the need to cut up fabric 
and put it back together again,

who "get" the joy of being inspired by 
what someone else is doing,

and who know the satisfaction of 
creating something with your own hands

and seeing it used and appreciated 
(which is why we do what we do, isn't it?)

The inner over-achiever in me says 
"you need to post every day" but reality says 

"let go of that perfectionist thinking" and

"post when you have something to say or share."

* * *

One of my goals over the past couple of years 

has been to talk less and listen more.

Some days I do pretty well - others, not so well.

Blogging allows me to listen and share in your lives

(accomplishments, fears, concerns, joys - 
whatever you share) and I like that a lot.

Some days are so busy that 
I don't have time to leave comments,

(even though I'd like to)

and sometimes Blogger just flat refuses
 to LET me leave a comment (which is NOT nice).

Sometimes technology itself just gets in the way.
(things keep changing and evolving
and keeping up can be a challenge)

Blogging IS my way of staying connected

with our amazing community of interesting, creative people.

Story and context matter.  

So, please, know that I care that you took time to post and

that I hope YOU keep on posting as time/energy permit.

I value what you do.

I plan to keep posting here 
when there is something worth sharing

and I will definitely keep reading your posts.

Maybe I'll even be able to leave more comments 
instead of just breezing through . . .

Quiltdivajulie
------------------------------

And, in the words of Robert Genn of The Painter's Keys website: 

"connecting your work with others is good for art and life. I'm not talking about dealer action or green feedback. The work itself, in progress or completed, in exchange or not, can be sent by jpeg to global friends in nanoseconds. A critique or approval may be forthcoming, but more often than not it's just the simple human joy of sharing. "Electronic interdependence," famously said Marshall McLuhan, "recreates the world in the image of a global village." While we may operate as independent workers, we are not islands unto ourselves. The Brotherhood and Sisterhood is alive and well and living in cyberspace."