I’m starting to rethink this whole blogging thing, especially daily blogging, and that’s not a bad thing. Next week will be the fifteenth anniversary of when I started this blog. I’d read how important blogging was for authors, both as a way of getting known and as a way of connecting with readers, so even though I had no idea what a blog was, wasn’t yet published, had nothing to say, I jumped right in. I didn’t blog every day at the beginning, though during the years, I had several stretches where I did blog every day. Out of the 5,480 days from the beginning until today, I’ve blogged 3,565 times.
I started out writing about writing and books, then after Jeff died, I let my grief spill over onto this blog. When I set out on my 12,500 mile, 5-month cross-country trip, the focus of my blog changed again. And then it changed again when I became a houseowner with a yard to landscape.
Now? I’m still involved with gardening, but I don’t want to turn this into a gardening blog. Nor am I especially interesting in continuing to chronicle my daily life, my ups and downs, my moods, my periodic loneliness, and my infrequent bouts of missing Jeff. I don’t think it’s healthy or smart to put so much of myself out there. It was one thing when I was frantic with grief and needed an outlet, but I certainly don’t need an outlet when I am merely feeling melancholy or even just blah. Nor do I want to put emphasis on such times by writing about them.
Even worse than writing about those moods is trying to put a good slant on them. Sometimes it’s important to just be. Don’t name what the feeling is. Don’t write about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t try to be grateful or see the bright side. Just be.
I’ll probably continue daily blogging for a while longer because it’s the only writing I do, and it is a good discipline, but to be honest, it would be just as good a discipline if I forgot blogging and started a new book. (Not that I have any plans to write another book, I’m just giving an example.)
Also, after my current streak of 1,089 days of daily blogging, not blogging every day is too big a decision to make lightly. Or maybe it isn’t a big decision — all I’d have to do is skip a few days and see what happens.
The world wouldn’t come to an end, that I know.
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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One. “Grief: The Inside Story is perfect and that is not hyperbole! It is exactly what folk who are grieving need to read.” –Leesa Healy, RN, GDAS GDAT, Emotional/Mental Health Therapist & Educator.
Bertram's Blog 
September 16, 2022 at 2:49 pm
If you don’t want to blog everyday, don’t. I can think of worse things happening. Whatever you feel like is the best course to go.
September 17, 2022 at 1:11 pm
I started blogging for the same reason, but the kind of things I’ve published haven’t turned out to need the exposure. Still, I’m enjoying the online connections I’ve made. I blogged faithfully two-to-three times a week in the early years, but gradually reduced the frequency to fit my changing lifestyle and available time. I must admit that made me feel guilty at first, until I recognized that it didn’t likely matter to anyone else except me. In the past few years I post when something occurs to me that I’d like to share. I don’t have as many regular ‘followers’ now, thanks to my irregular posting schedule, but once again, that doesn’t matter to me.
I’d suggest if the discipline of daily blogging matters to you, then continue. If you’re not sure, don’t make a change quite yet. Give yourself some time to think about the ramifications.
September 17, 2022 at 8:00 pm
Apparently, I decided without actually deciding. This comment is the only thing I wrote today. No blog!