Success or Exhaustion

 

Now and then I find myself landing on some blog post or other which tries to define How To Be A Successful Blogger. Tips usually include things like: post regularly, keep to a theme, get out there and visit lots of other blogs, link, comment, interact… Just recently I came across one such post that a bit unexpectedly ended with the conclusion (rephrased by me):  “sorry, readers, I did all this, and was successful - but I can’t keep it up”.

It made me ponder about how we define success. Not just in blogging! - but let’s stick to that for now, to simplify things.

Really: How many followers should a blogger have to be counted as successful? How many page views? How many comments on average per post? How many… Oh, never mind…

Every now and then I find that I’m letting myself get stressed by goals set up by someone else – and not set up for me, but for them. How stupid is that?

Every time I do that, I have to go back to my own beginning, and ask myself: What goals did I set for myself?

If we stick to blogging… In my very first blog post ever (January 2009), I wrote: “I really have no clear idea yet what hidden things I want this blog to make visible. But maybe if I start writing, I will find out...”

I had hardly even read other blogs until I started my own. I had never heard the word “meme”. I knew one (1) person in the blogosphere. It seemed unbelievable that anyone else would ever just randomly find what I wrote. (That took two weeks, I think.) But I was curious to explore a bit more. I wanted to keep up writing, and the English language. And if I made some friends along the way, that would be great. That was about it…

Considering those goals (which did not include numbers of any kind), I’ve been “successful”. I’ve done a lot of exploring. I’ve kept writing. I’m communicating with other people in English. Some people across the earth whom I’ve never met have come to feel like close friends. On top of that I’ve expanded my photo interest – a lot. And after nearly two years I’m still here, enjoying it, feeling inspired by it…

… except when occasionally for obscure reasons I start to compare myself to goals set by other people who are not me. 

Why does one do that?!

Letting oneself get inspired by others is one thing.
Letting oneself get exhausted is another.  

“The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads swiftly via the Internet. --- In simple terms, an Internet meme is an inside joke, that a large number of Internet users are in on.”
Wikipedia

 
The pictures in this post are all from today (5 October 2010)

BTT: Too Many Questions

http://btt2.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/meme-of-reading-questions/

This week's Blogging-Through-Thursday questions turned out to be a meme of no less than 55 questions. Gosh, that's Blogging-Through-Thursday-For-A-Whole-Year-And-More!!! I don't "do" memes that long. If you want the full list of questions, follow the BTT-link above. I decided to only answer the ones which brought an immediate short answer to mind.

2. What are you reading right now? Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (re-reading)
3. What books do you have on request at the library? None.
5. What do you currently have checked out at the library? American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Where was Wonderland - a traveller's guide to the settings of classic children's books. The Magic Code - The use of magical patterns in fantasy for children.
6. Do you have an e-reader? No.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once? I often have several books going but then usually of different kind.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog? If they have, I'm not sure it is really related to the blogging.
13. Can you read on the bus? No.
14. Favorite place to read? At home in my recliner chair or bed.
16. Do you ever dog-ear books? As a rule, no. Might have been guilty of a few exceptions. Never a borrowed one, though!
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books? It happens. (Again, only in my own books.) Mostly with "study" books. But in others too (especially cheap paperbacks) I have been known to mark some quoteworthy passage, scribble down a translation of a word I had to look up, a questionmark, or a reference.
19. What is your favorite language to read in? English for English books. Swedish for Swedish ones. I also read German but not very often now.
25. Have you ever read a self-help book? Yes. Sometimes helpful, sometimes not so much! (cf. 52)
28. Favorite reading snack? Don't usually eat snacks while reading. Cough drops, a cup of tea, maybe a biscuit or an apple.
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience. The DaVinci Code, maybe. (I'll never know. Might have felt the same way about it anyway!)
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time? 1-5
37. How often have you returned a book to the library unread? Quite often.
43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading? Noise. Like the distant repetitious beat of someone else's choice of music. People talking. TV. (I either want it quiet, or my own choice of music.)
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it? Never with novels. Sometimes with other kinds of books.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through? Getting interrupted by something more important. Or just finding myself bored or disgusted with it.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized? Yes.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them? Most of the books I buy nowadays are books that I expect I'll want to keep.
52. Name a book that made you angry. Some so-called self-help books that did not feel helpful. Titles not worth remembering!
55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading? Children's books, fantasy, mysteries without too much violence.