So, excuse my general "off the blogging bandwagon" state of being... I'm not sure I can tell you if its temporary or a general shift out of blogging. I do think I find the non-interactive part of blogging defeating! But then if I think of this as a place where I can return to later and see what was going on in my life, I feel more motivated to keep at it!
So, as I may not be ready to resolve that cosmic question right now, I thought I'd make a list of what I might blog on and see if anyone has any "requests and dedications"!
Cultural:
1. The girls end of the year performance at the local school--how that differs from what most of us know of end of the year elementary school Christmas productions.
2. Thanksgivings: In Uganda, it is common to have a "thanksgiving" at church which is a sort of corporate form gratitude-- an interesting example of a communal culture versus our individualistic culture where we are doing a lot more personal gratitude exercises--journals, lists, memoirs, etc...
3. Living and dying, mental health in material "scarcity" versus in community "scarcity"
General family life:
1. Photo update
2. Children and their stages of development
3. What Christmas traditions we do now, what might I want for the future, etc
Personal:
1. Books I've read this year, books that I like of the kids
2. Living in limbo--updates/reflections on a transition that will come anytime in the next 6-18 months
3. Thoughts on consumerism/culture-- how to avoid the negative consequences and discern the neutral/positive aspects of our day/age (personally and as parents)
4. Thoughts on gender and vocation
If anyone has ideas/experience in writing and reading blogs, I'd love to get a little more feedback on the whole genre. If you do a blog, who is your audience and how do determine what they want to hear? If you do it more as a journal, how do you decide how much to divulge and is the fact that their is a wider audience a negative pressure on what you share? If you do it more as a place to write more than you can on facebook, is it fine to be pretty sporadic?
So, as I may not be ready to resolve that cosmic question right now, I thought I'd make a list of what I might blog on and see if anyone has any "requests and dedications"!
Cultural:
1. The girls end of the year performance at the local school--how that differs from what most of us know of end of the year elementary school Christmas productions.
2. Thanksgivings: In Uganda, it is common to have a "thanksgiving" at church which is a sort of corporate form gratitude-- an interesting example of a communal culture versus our individualistic culture where we are doing a lot more personal gratitude exercises--journals, lists, memoirs, etc...
3. Living and dying, mental health in material "scarcity" versus in community "scarcity"
General family life:
1. Photo update
2. Children and their stages of development
3. What Christmas traditions we do now, what might I want for the future, etc
Personal:
1. Books I've read this year, books that I like of the kids
2. Living in limbo--updates/reflections on a transition that will come anytime in the next 6-18 months
3. Thoughts on consumerism/culture-- how to avoid the negative consequences and discern the neutral/positive aspects of our day/age (personally and as parents)
4. Thoughts on gender and vocation
If anyone has ideas/experience in writing and reading blogs, I'd love to get a little more feedback on the whole genre. If you do a blog, who is your audience and how do determine what they want to hear? If you do it more as a journal, how do you decide how much to divulge and is the fact that their is a wider audience a negative pressure on what you share? If you do it more as a place to write more than you can on facebook, is it fine to be pretty sporadic?
Here's my preference:
ReplyDelete1. Photo update
2. Children and their stages of development
Also, I can attest - blogging is very difficult. You have to come up with an idea and then follow it through all the way. The ability to respond and interact with your readers is also difficult. If it's any motivation, I do enjoy your posts when they come up!
I would like to read about any of these possibilities most:
ReplyDelete1. What Christmas traditions we do now, what might I want for the future, etc
2. Books I've read this year, books that I like of the kids
3. Living in limbo--updates/reflections on a transition that will come anytime in the next 6-18 months
4. Thoughts on consumerism/culture-- how to avoid the negative consequences and discern the neutral/positive aspects of our day/age (personally and as parents)
5. Thoughts on gender and vocation
Abby, know that I always appreciate and read your blog! I would love to hear more about the books you are reading (of course), photos and general updates on your family and thoughts on the potential transition. Hope you have a great Christmas!
ReplyDeleteBooks, always, how your kids are doing, and your Christmas traditions. I also always appreciate your cultural reflections. To be honest, I wanted to check "all of the above."
ReplyDeleteI don't blog very personally because I can't seem to strike a balance between divulging too much and putting on a happy face. But, since I feel like less people read my blog than are my Facebook friends, it feels a bit safer than fb, even though it is technically out there for everyone to see.
Having it as a record of this time is a great motivation. On my old blog I constantly worried that I wasn't doing it right, and now, several years later, (and having erased a few "oops--wish I hadn't said that" posts) I love to look back at it and remember that season.