Inquiring Minds Apparently Want To Know! So Just So You Know!

Inquiring Minds Apparently Want To Know! So, Just so you know….

Last week, I met a VERY NICE  person and she asked me a question that no one had asked me before.

I have had “hints” of the question’s subject, but no one just came right out and asked me.

The Question she asked me is “Why Do You Blog?”

I have had people say...”I Love Your Blog” and “Please Don’t Ever Quit Writing Your Blog” and “I love how you keep it real” and “You are an inspiration” and “I love your ideas and your tablescapes are wonderful”…..

But No one has asked…“Why”???

I read somewhere once that Blogging is a lot like a fast moving river….with it’s powerful current rushing downstream, eroding creekbeds and carrying anything in it’s path for many miles depositing a bit here and a bit there….and the written posts of that swiftly moving water can be described as small paper boats which can either float right along with the current or…  

….they can dismantle and disintegrate quickly only to be sucked to the bottom, an utter failure to launch.

It can be a real challenge to write a post that will be received favorably.  One that is informative and can keep the readers attention.

One needs courage to put yourself out there in the world for all to see…along with stamina, motivation, persistence and patience.

AND…it can be not only time consuming but expensive as you search out seasonal salad plates, motivational sofa pillows or a prime rib roast in an effort to share a tablescape, a decor trend or a recipe.

Your little paper boat may sink…OR if it is good, it might float happily along but that is the day that few readers check out your Blog and it just sails on down the river to the sea.

And then, because you have vowed to keep your Blog as advertisement free as you can….

…….and because you write because you love it and it keeps your creative juices flowing, One or two of the super bloggers (who are major sponsored) in their big fancy catamarans sail by you and you are sent crashing in and out of their wake only to bounce around adrift and hoping you will be able to “dry out” and sail on……

…..all the while knowing that if you work harder, you still do not know what lies ahead beyond the bend in the river.

But in your own little world, you continue to float merrily along.  Your little boat may still bump into something unfamiliar, like a non-blogger who cannot understand the concept of blogging. They assume you must be making tons of money from advertising and your readers number in the millions, otherwise why on earth would you put so much time and effort into such a fool hardy enterprise.

And I say, remember the old song….”anyone knows an ant…can’t, move a rubber tree plant…. but he’s got high hopes…”

I have high hopes and writing a Blog is an ART form.

YES it IS an art much like photographers, artists, novelists, musicians and craftsmen.  Think of how many of them never reach their pinnacle of success, but they keep on doing what they are doing because they love it.

Some people don’t understand that….

Sometimes I don’t understand that.

Is my Blog taking over my life as well as all my “stuff” occupying all the spare room and closets in my home?

Should I be concerned that my closets hold dishes and decorating items rather than golfing or tennis outfits?

Has all my work been for naught?

Should I be sitting quietly at home enjoying my retirement, watching the latest soap opera on Television and waiting for the phone to ring and someone to ask me to lunch so I will have somewhere to go or someone to drink with?

Should I be doing something (or a profession) that no one will question….something ordinary that makes perfect sense to the ones that are asking why do you do what you do?

That is when I say to myself, perhaps I am being too sensitive to those who question why I do what I do.

You see, I don”t want to miss seeing a bright red cardinal sitting on my bird bath in my Secret Garden and not be able to share the experience with my readers. OR to miss a photograph of a beautiful sunset or Christmas lights or playing with my dishes as I sit a tablescape suggestion for Thanksgiving or Spring.

I try to write posts from my heart.

I want to engage in activities that lift the soul of my readers and I hope my readers will see how important my faith is in my daily living. I want to be able to show them that it is alright to not be perfect.  It is ok to bake a cake that looks like the wreck of the Hesperus once in a while and I hope to inspire them to make an ordinary dinner a little more special for their family by adding the pretty glasses Aunt Harriet gave them years ago.  

Who knows? Perhaps one day…somehow in some small way my work may touch someone in need.

And that is why I write a blog.  

No one said it would be easy or even fair and if my little boats sink a time or two in the swift, moving river….then I will just have to build another boat.  I cannot be discouraged or doubt myself.

Which leads me to the commenting at the end of each post.  Many of the Super Bloggers ask their readers to make a comment which gives them a chance at a drawing at the end of the month for $100.00 which is donated by a sponsor. 

It is true, every blogger likes and encourages comments…when there is a comment you feel someone, somewhere is reading you, understanding you and identifying with you.

There may be few or no comments at the end of each and every one of my blog posts…but I have learned that it does not mean no one is reading. (Every blogger has stats available to them for such statistics and I personally want to thank you for reading and staying with me since I have been blogging).

A new year is beginning and a new journey for all of us….and so I go back to the original subject matter of this post.

Inquiring minds apparently want to know and so just so you know….

I love all of you and I hope we all have a very healthy and prosperous new year in 2017.

From Me and My Captain to you and yours.