More than once this week, I’ve started to write a blog post. By “started”, I mean I uploaded a photo and then stared at the white text box, not sure where to start. After a while, I figured it was a lost cause, and went in search of an old blog post that I knew I wanted to link into the one I was attempting to write. None of my search terms revealed what I was after, and so I found myself scrolling the archives trying to find it.
2018 was kind of flat, with a flurry of activity in the middle of the year. 2017 was pretty decently populated in the last 1/3rd of the year, after a crazy start to the year between travel and getting set up for homeschooling. 2016 was a write off, with a total of 5 posts all year – I was out of the habit, I was working a lot, and that was the point it felt like blogging really started to change from what it was. 2015, 2014, 2013, all well-filled years, averaging a post every two or three days. 2012…that was the golden age. Of blogging, in general, I think, but also for me personally. At the end of 2011, I had attended my first quilt camp, and it was there that I was castigated by the-enabler-who-shall-remain-nameless about my lack of blogging in the preceding couple of months – after a reasonably productive 2008-mid 2011, I had dropped off and fallen into a few months of radio silence (blog silence? Can we refer to a quiet blog in radio terms?). We still joke about it now – “hey remember that time you whinged about lack of blog content, and so I started blogging daily in response?”. 2012 was a plethora of content, with, yes, most weekdays, and often weekends, having a blog post. Sometimes it was a project. Sometimes it was just a little life update. Sometimes it was the Bloggers Boogie on a Saturday night (back when 8tracks ruled the playlist airwaves, and ThisIsMyJam was a thing), or Sunday Snippets (another blast from the past).
Scrolling through those posts, I felt more and more like I have lost my blogging voice. I got to thinking, what was it that made blogging then so fun and easy, and what had caused me to lose my way? I do know I find it hard to get over the hurdle of the first paragraph of a post these days; with the advent of the facebook auto-feed sharing the first few lines, I feel the pressure of getting that opening hook “just right” for the preview. Pinterest has changed things, of course, with the “need” to have a catchy title, and good content and freebies that are quick and easy to attract eyeballs and get the click throughs…but then clicks don’t equal comments, and there is much more these days a feeling of yelling into the void. I think that’s why I’m enjoying Substack so much, the community and the interaction is reminiscent of those wonderful, friendly, chatty glory days of blogging.
The lifestyle snippets and stories don’t generate the audience that a printable does; they aren’t as Pinterestable, not as likely to encourage folks to click through. They don’t “add value’, in modern social parlance. But does that mean they aren’t worth blogging about? Instagram has been a big influence as the rise of microblogging takes away the blog as the be all and end all of content sourcing. Increasingly, thought, I am seeing previously dormant blogs coming back to life, not just on my feedly, but on instagram too, as the algorithms take over and the value of having more control over your content becomes more powerful. Blogging, and substack, give us a way to take back control, to step outside the algorithm, and rebuild that community we once had.
With the constant changes to the algorithm on insta, and on facebook, I have become a master overthinker, working too hard to decide on content, instead of sharing what comes naturally, because I don’t want to bore people with too much of this or that or the other. It feels, for instance, that all I’ve posted about lately is art journaling. And that’s beacuse that’s mainly what I’ve been doing. My crochet has been too fiddly. The knitting requires too much brain power. My cricut is packed away and I don’t want to do battle with Design Space. My art journal has been easy, because I can leave it out on my table and I have daily prompts to make it easy to get started. So that’s what I’ve been sharing. But, thinks I, people will think it’s an art insta, and get confised when I post something else. Or those who follow for the other crafting will get sick of all the art.
The overthinking extends to my blog too. The first week of the month is a designated update week - I share three posts, one with my books read for the month, one with a monthly progress report of my card-a-day project, and one with a plan for the month ahead as I reset my project trolley. Then this month, I have had both Messy May and 100 Days wrap up, so I’ve had update posts for those as well, plus a Me Made May post, and a swap post. It feels like all I’ve done lately is share wrap posts. Once, that wouldn’t bother me. Now, I worry people will get bored. I overthink it, and I feel like it shows. The blogging doesn’t come as easily as it once did, and I miss my easy blogging voice of the past.
But then, I realised as I castigated myself once again for finding it hard when once it was easy, of course it was easy for me to have a comfortable blogging voice and a consistent blogging schedule in 2012 all the way through to 2015. It was easy because I was doing it. Daily. I was honing that voice and the habit of posting was so ingrained that even now, today, as I dive into the archives looking for a link, as I read the words of Rachs-past, I could feel an incredibly strong sense of deja vu, that I can do this, even on the hard days. I could feel the feels and think the thoughts of 2012, so well worn was that groove that I am trying to allow myself to drop back into. It only takes reading a couple of posts, and I can feel myself sinking back into that familiar voice. Recently, I spent some time updating the links of photo embeds that had broken when I moved my blog last year, reading the posts as I went, procrastinating on the post I actually wanted to write. I finally returned to it later that afternoon, I got it written and then dropped into the chat with my bestie. “oh hai,” I said, “2015 called and they want their conversational wrap up back”.
It was a reminder to myself that I spend too much time overthinking my blogging and my Substack (and my socials) these days. The fun of it is in the little slices of life that pop up when I get out of my own way. I write because I enjoy it. Why then do I try and suck the fun out of it to please the Almighty Algorithm?My July goal? Blog like it’s 2015, see what falls out.
ON MY CRAFT TABLE THIS WEEK
So excited to have my spinning wheel out again to spin up some fibre that I dyed a couple of weeks back // working towards a quilt finish, getting the backing pieced to make it reversible // never not leaving home with a project in hand - this week it was crochet at the scouts market stall
IN MY ORBIT THIS WEEK
Watching// Over the weekend I started Mr & Mrs Murder on Stan, an Aussie comedy from 2013. I’m about to start episode two; jury is still out on if I Like-like it, but it’s watchable and good company as I spin.
Reading// my Feedly backlog; I haven’t popped in for a week or so. Going into my saved folder this week is this helpful post from
on getting used to circular needles (the only kind of needles to knit with!)Listening// to Pride & Prejudice (the Rosamund Pike aka Jane Bennet version)** with Mr15 for his school. May or may not be rewatching Lizzie Bennet Diaries as well. Strictly for school, of course. (**affiliate link)
Planning// a new quilt for the teenager, inspired by this one from Pinterest. The improv curves have me a bit worried but I think I’ve wrapped my head around what needs to happen…
ELSEWHERE THIS WEEK
on the blog// sharing my final thoughts on the wrap up of 100 Days 2024
on the gram// a little moment of zen as I was spinning yarn on the weekend.
on the pod// my first podcast episode on Substack dropped this week for paid subscribers, chatting about ideas and keeping all the idea bunnies under control. Over on the free pod, we have spoken about blogging back in season two.
on the stack// “Long ago, I gave up perfectionism, a myth that poisons creativity” - love this quote from
in this post on “medKNITation”on the pins// dreaming of warping up a new project with a double warp, a travel case I definitely need for holidays, and as always, pretty collages.
It’s a cool, drizzly, overcast kind of day here, perfect for snuggling in and crafting by the fire. I would love to make solid progress on my quilt back, and even start on the quilt linked above for Mr17. Before I can do that though, there’s homeschool group to go to and groceries to pick up. Possibly this afternoon I can get the three littles settled into some independent lessons and I can get busy sewing. At the very least I should be able to do some spinning.
What are you making this week?
You should definitely start a blog! It’s fabulous as an archive in and of itself, especially these days when hashtags are broken and it’s impossible to find anything on insta.
And thank you for your very kind comment, I think half my problem is I worry about boring you with the same projects over and over, or scaring folks off switching hobbies half way through the month. It is nice to know you appreciate the journey, not just the specific content. You’ve inspired me to lean into the here and now, and go where the mojo leads xx
I’ve contemplated starting a blog… got as far as a header on blog spot …. Never put anything on it.
I love reading blogs… insta and fb … it’s where I found my modern quilting community.
I mainly use the socials for community and because 12 years ago we up sticks and moved from Victoria to Queensland. By using socials my friends and family can still connect with what I’m doing, regardless of whether they post/interact or not. I also use it as a memory prompt… what was I doing last year, 3 years ago, 5 years ago? I much prefer my recent memories because as I upgraded my phone I learnt how to snap and include pictures.
I never got Pinterest and use it rarely. I understand that for many bloggers/creators it’s about earning some $$$… but for me posting to social media is an easy way to create memories and stay connected with my friends and family and make new friends.
All of this is a long winded way to say, maybe the reason you have writers block is because you have forgotten why you were writing. Those of us who follow you, are here because we are interested in your current journey, even if that is only a round of homeschooling, housework and binging Bridgerton.
And it’s reminding me that maybe I need to revisit starting a blog…so I have a digital journal of what I was doing when and not just some random photos and a few words and hashtags on the socials.
Janet