Including this blog post, there are 221 blog posts in this blog that have been written over the course of three years. Granted, there have been plenty of gaps over those four years, but three years is a long time. Two hundred twenty one posts is also a lot of posts. As I went through those posts to update the categories and to choose the best posts to tweet over the next several weeks, I noticed that within those three years and 221 posts is a lot of crap.
In More Ways Than One
Some of it is crap as in horrible writing. My blogging and overall writing skills have come a long way since I starting blogging and freelance writing in 2010. I've learned tons from my clients, as well as through reading articles, reading other blogs, practicing, and watching a few webinars and videos. However, I think most of my writing is crap because it doesn't add much value to the world. it's must me rambling or discussing nonsense. Most of the articles are posts that I really don't want to share on Twitter. I barely care about these posts and their content, since much of the posts are me talking about doing all sorts of things. As I've explained in my previous post, I have as much of a track record of NOT doing things as I do about sticking with something and achieving something great.
Yet, as I write this blog post, I can't help but feel that I'm writing more crap. Adding noise to the blogosphere when it doesn't need any more noise. Just more rambling, discussing nonsense, and not offering too much value to the world.
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Come Alive Or Merely Exist
I suppose it's possible to come alive and to still write a lot of "noise" that clogs up RSS feeds and simply increases the number of web pages on the Internet. If you're coming alive blogging, then more power to you. Am I coming alive by blogging? Can I accomplish more than just chronicling my ideas only to look back and see how many of those ideas I never executed upon? Yes, I can do better. I can come alive through blogging. I can contribute excellent blog posts that other people find valuable. Lately, a few have found my Geogussr post valuable and have beaten my top score. I should go and try to beat their top score, but that game just overwhelms me now. It used to be fun. Now, I just throw my hands up when I realize I'm in South Korea or Japan because I have no way of knowing where I'm located within the country. I can't read either language, so I can't possibly tell what city I'm in or what's near me.
Perhaps, a blog always starts out as noise. Only after someone influential links to you, or retweets you, or talks about how great you are is when the blogging takes a whole new level. Not everyone wants that. Depending on the topic, the blogging may never reach that level. It's too niche, or it's a personal blog with no desire for fame or a wider audience. But, the only way to come alive is to do what you love and to pursue your passion. For some, there are plenty of passions and all must be pursued. For others, there are only one or two passions. Not everyone lists blogging in that category, and some may find blogging a means to an end, the way marketers do by using business blogging to generate leads.
I Wrote Crap Because I Wasn't Alive
I was trying to, and I was having fun. But, I write my best stuff when the act of writing makes me come alive. It's the act combined with the ideas i.e. having something important to say and unique to contribute. Ensuring this combination may mean writing less, or even finding more things to talk about and thinking about more things to cultivate a unique perspective. Essentially, writing about my day or my goals for the next month or my new ill-fated plan isn't going to cut it.