First day in the kiddie pool and a couple little people I know were pretty pumped.
Little do they know Hell's fiery inferno is about to unleash on Memphis for the next 3 months.
Oh, the sweet bliss of ignorance.
And tonight while I sit in my well air-conditioned bedroom I am pondering this blogging thing. It sure feels like a dying art. Is anyone out there? Do any of us really have time to read more than a hashtagged quip on a filtered phone photo? Is that why social media has gone the way of twitter/instagram/facebook?
I've struggled to find any meaningful interaction with those sites. (I even posted on facebook last week. Then felt so awkward about it. Did my college roommate's ex-boyfriend really "like" that my daughter brought me breakfast in bed? Well that's kind of weird. Which I think makes me kind of weird too for posting it. But then a lot of people I like "liked" that, and that was nice. I'm over thinking this, right?)
But I admit I also feel archaic when I blog. Maybe I just don't know when to say uncle. I've been known to keep my pillow cases far past their prime. I hesitate to stop, though! It's quite deeply satisfying for me to know I have at least one source of history of our little lives here. Don't know what I'd replace that with. And I really enjoy reading more about your lives, what you're really thinking and going through. Some sweet folks I've really only gotten to know well through your blogs, but I feel connected to you, and inspired in my mothering and marriage to do and be better. That's certainly meaningful to me.
But I admit I also feel archaic when I blog. Maybe I just don't know when to say uncle. I've been known to keep my pillow cases far past their prime. I hesitate to stop, though! It's quite deeply satisfying for me to know I have at least one source of history of our little lives here. Don't know what I'd replace that with. And I really enjoy reading more about your lives, what you're really thinking and going through. Some sweet folks I've really only gotten to know well through your blogs, but I feel connected to you, and inspired in my mothering and marriage to do and be better. That's certainly meaningful to me.
I would really love to hear your thoughts about this! Have you moved on from blogging? What do you use to stay connected with those you care about? How have you made it meaningful? Have you moved away from social media altogether for the most part? Am I missing something that makes those other outlets awesome? What floats your boat?
Much thanks for your input.
25 comments:
I still love blogging and am grateful for all the record keeping I have done in the last 7 years. I really do it for me now, as I have gone private and know that a good portion of my invited readers have stopped reading blogs altogether. I think as long as you are doing it for you, you can carry on way past the "blogging is so last season" attitude. I also enjoy Instagram for quick little updates. My only problem with blogging is finding the time to do the updating I'd like to do. I say CARRY ON!
I think about this a lot too. I will continue to blog mainly because someday I will print it to use as my scrapbook. I also feel I do it mostly for family and I don't expect to get many comments and interaction beyond that so that helps me to not be let down that not everyone comments or even looks at my blog. The thought of going private has crossed my mind so it can truly be honest and authentic since I would be the only one reading it (and family I guess). I do find I read blogs a lot less and skip some altogether. It is nice to see pictures of those people I still want to keep in touch with. Facebook has taken over though sadly which is sad because I don't like it as much. I feel weird too ever writing on there.
I did away w facebook and all my social media phobias disappeared. I love instagram so much! Its quick and such a great thing to find one good quick moment from the day. Blogging is not dead! Only if we say so and darn it, even if i am getting lazier about it, it is my main glimpse into our life right now. Things are so fast around these parts, even once a month for me is better than nothing. It is the best i can do right now. Your blog is one of my favorites! You are such an inspiration and i will selfishly take all i can get to make me not throw in the towel on hard days:) you are brilliant, carry on!
I think people still read blogs, but don't take time to comment because they are not blogging themselves so it's more of a one-sided, non-connecty thing these days. As for me, I've decided just to blog for myself. I want this record of my family. I guess what I'm saying is that you just have to find your motivation from a different place. Blog because you want the record rather than because you want to connect. And, in your case, I think a lot of people are benefiting from your blog and appreciate all the time you put into it. I really feel like your blog is making a difference. So keep it up--for your own history and also for the difference you're making.
Yeah, ditto what Jenny said. And Carly--it's a wonderful personal record. I can't seem to connect through facebook yet, and it just doesn't tell a story the way a blog post does.
I'm failing on my blog just cause I've gotten all sorts of new equipment, and I feel too frazzled to learn new ways just now.
Oh Kate! How funny that you and I are so often on the same brain waves... I find it strange that blogging has "died" in terms of connecting with people... I know getting updates on my blog takes time, but checking blogs doesn't take much and leaving comments is so easy! Not as easy as clicking "like" I guess, but where's the connection with people there? I think if people want to actually connect with others, blogging is still where it is, but it seems like people don't care about that as much, sadly.
When I had Abraham, I got a handful of comments, but like 40 people "liked" it on Ethan's Facebook. They liked it so much they couldn't even type out congrats or that he was a cutie. I am not on Facebook, I just don't care about the random shallow "friendships" that I see there.
So, I blog on, as you know. I am disappointed that others don't comment on my blog much... but I LOVE it when people do. So I continue to comment as much as I can on my friend's blogs. I love your blog, you really are inspiring!
I was just thinking about this same thing the other day. I love keeping up with good friends and my sister through their blogs, plus a few crafting ones as well. I don't feel the same connection with peeps on FB and often think about deleting my account. I think I would really like instagram, but don't have a smart phone. I am glad you blog. I feel like you write some of the exact things I am thinking but that I don't know how to put into words. It is nice to feel like there are other people out there who are going through similar things. Plus, blogging is a nice outlet for me. It helps me reflect on the things that keep me going, especially when I look back on pictures a moments from my own kids and realize how FAST time is rushing by.
I love to blog, just finding it hard to choose blogging over naps...ha ha I am such a lazy bum.
I check into see if you've blogged almost daily. I haven't blogged since Jakes mission pres said he couldn't look at it. I was blogging so my missionaries could see what we were doing. I want to start again, but I never blogged for any other reason than my own personal history. I never cared if anyone looked at it so I guess I don't see blogs on the same page as Facebook. All my kids look at your blog to stay current with the cousins. I need to try to start again this summer so your kids can see what ours are doing. Keep doing it if only for the record. Like journaling...
I still love blogging, I just needed to take a break to get some things in perspective. I love looking at yours and seeing your beautiful girls. I will be back soon, I promise.
that is really funny - right now i am laying on my pillowcase that was on my bed growing up!! the other is down in my sewing room because it is so thin that it split on the edges :) yes i am going to fix it - they're so soft! i love that i am not the only one out there that holds on to pillowcases!
keep blogging! it is so much better than other social media! i hate 'likes'! it is a dying art in that it is just for fun. seems like most people do it for quid these days. it is really for you and yours - we just get to tag along for the ride. also you get to practice photography - which i think is fantastic fun! keep going! i would be sad if you stopped! you inspire!
I blog for my own journal, not for others anymore. I did start my blog with the intention of keeping my parents informed. It still serves that purpose, but once I printed my first blog book my focus shifted to creating a permanent record of our lives. I love reading what you are up to, especially as I am not there at the moment to see what all you are doing.
Kate, I'll share my very strong opinion with you on this- Blogging is still the way to go!!! I am so very grateful I have been blogging for the past few years, it has become my family journal/scrapbook and I plan to print it when I get around to it. The way I see it FB and instagram are popular because people thrive on instant attention/gratification. I think people get addicted to having people praise them and "like" them oh so quickly. But what happens to your FB posts, people only see them if they happen to log on during the same hour. If you really want to keep in touch with your friends and family far away on what's really happening in your life, stay with blogging!
Also, I really, really love reading your blog! I love feeling like I know your little girls and keep up with your life. I think anyone who really cares will read your blog. I know I don't have a ton of people reading my blog, but those who want to know what's happening with me and my kids will take the time to.
And I p.s. - I loved your comments on my recent posts, I am still planning of staying with my blog, I just got behind on my personal blog because I was so busy posting my "photog" stuff, but I don't want that to happen, so I am going to catch up my personal blog before I do anymore on my photog blog. Blog on Kate!
Oh and LOVE these shots of the girls! Beautiful once again!
I love your blog. It's like a breath of fresh air. It made me start blogging again.
I hope you hang on to your blog like an old pillowcase. Yours is the one blog that makes life feel magical to me. I've certainly been out of touch with my own blog... but I do always look at yours! My lofty goal is to print a second blog book within the year. I have one and love it, but it takes quite a bit of work to get it into book form! I count that as doing my family history :)
KEEP IT UP! I love reading your blog. I feel like even though you live forever away I still can see what you are up to. I love blogging but finding time is so hard. I also print out my blog every year through blurb.com because they transfer the blog straight across. Which has been a lot of fun to have it in paper form. Also, Pinterest wouldn't exist without blogs so keep it up! You are an inspiration to many! (sorry my thoughts are all over the place)
I still blog because I enjoy recording my children's lives. I don't get many visitors, and I don't care. I don't blog for any reason other than for our family. I check just a few other blogs of people who inspire me and have something meaningful to say. :) I'm currently serving in the YW and FB helps me stay in touch with my girls and see what pictures they are posting of the boys they like. Other than that, I don't use any accounts. Don't quit writing here, Kate. I love your blog. :)
I love your blog, too, Kate. It is high art--visual and verbal. I cannot bring myself to post on Facebook ever, although I occasionally look at it to check up on kids. It seems like it's all surface. I don't even want to "connect" on the level that seems to be universal on Facebook. Blogs, on the other hand, have depth, and yours is one of the best.
Joey hale likes this
I only use Facebook to find out about disc golf events, or if I feel the uncontrollable urge to type the letters lol.
I find it kind of amusing that in the very new phenomenon of social media, blogging is now beginning to be seen as too slow of a way to interact. I, for one, really miss snail mail letters written out longhand in fountain pen. And what a prize if there were a photo enclosed (taken with a camera containing film and taken to a shop to be processed and printed). I have been working on a cross stitch pattern lately. It is the companion piece of another I stitched, that took about 10 years start to finish (actual hands on time was probably 18 to 20 months). If I continue working steadily, I should have this one done next year. I have noticed, though, as I go to get replacement floss, the aisle in the craft store for criss stitch is all but gone. What is left are very small and simple kits with everything enclosed, nothing like the behemoth project I'm doing. I think it's about attention span, like social media, like all of the things we do in our spare time. The speed of our world is breakneck now. Some younger people can't bear to sit through a movie, it's just too long to pay attention. We want the result, the feedback rightnow. I like the process of putting in one color at a time in one corner of the fabric and seeing how it progresses, seeing if I can get a bit more precise in my stitching as I go. It's the process I enjoy. I liked writing to my loved ones longhand, because just the extra time it takes to form the words with a pen allows you to actually consider what you are saying. Is it any wonder there is so much flaming on facebook? If you aren't actually talking to someone face to face, it is far too easy to be ugly and cruel in that relative anonymity, in the heat of a mood and a second of poor thinking. If only people realized how much further those words reach than a letter does. So I guess what I'm blathering on about is, if "old-fashioned" blogging seems too slow of a way to connect, puh-leez stick with it, if not an even slower way of expression. The more time it takes, the more value it has, I say. Especially for you. And I absolutely love it and show it to my co-workers all the time.
My comment comes late but you are easy to talk to, even if it comes after the fact. :)
Your blog inspires me. It is a beautiful way to document your life. You do it so well.
Plus, it is yours and will never be lost. You pics on FB belong there. If FB ever dies, your pictures go with it. You can print your blog too. Your blog would make WONDERFUL books!
I too, say carry on! Even though you already decided that. :)
I obviously love blogging. But I recently started a private blog that's just about Aspen stuff that only my family is invited to see. My public blog is more for me to socialize and reach out to others and keep track of things that won't someday embarrass Aspen (naked bum pics, anyone?). I find it's a good mix for me.
Will and I love reading your blog, but I also have to say that we love instagram. If you make your photos private then you can choose who follows you. I just have my family and some close friends that I follow and that follow me so I feel way more comfortable posting pictures on instagram than I do on facebook or even my blog sometimes. And its nice just to give a little update on what's goin on every few days. I'm still trying to convert Wendy, though, so that we can stay more connected when we move! :) Anyways...we can't wait to see you guys in a few weeks!
I think blogging is still a great, great thing to do. You can keep the memories for yourself, write the stories for your family, and yet, share those stories and wonderful photos with those that choose to follow you here. It can be difficult to find the time to write a response to blog posts these days, but perhaps I just need to slow down a bit and spend my time more effectively in more productive ways (of my choosing), such as commenting on friends' blog posts.
I always read your posts - I have your blog feed setup in a reader that I check on any day that I have the time to do so, and I always make sure to read your posts and two other family's posts. So, thank you, for every single post you write, and every single photo and thought you share. They do not go silently into the night, but are noticed, appreciated, and loved.
Keep it up, but keep it up for you and your family, not for anyone else. We are all just side beneficiaries! :-)
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