I have this thing with numbers. I like to add, subtract, multiply and divide them. I come up with a variety of ways to track statistics that lead to...well...nowhere actually! But it's not the destination that fascinates me; it's the journey.
As you should know from my monthly weather report posts, I track the weather. I make notations on a paper calendar of precipitation totals for each day and I've recently added notations for the daily high temperature. This provides me with the basic data to figure out daily averages and whether or not we are on track to exceed the monthly average.
This obsession with numbers also extends to this blog. I check my stats several times per day to see the number of visits and page views. It's not that it makes any difference in the overall scheme of things; it's more the raw numbers provide me with another playground for analysis.
Lately, however, I realize my OCD nature has sort of subverted my intentions of the blog. I sometimes pen a post when I don't feel like it because I'm attempting to hit a number target for the day or hour. The specified number (e.g., 96 visits or 150 page views) becomes a god that I have decided to worship for that day or moment. I must do whatever is needed to appease the numbers god!
I am trying to pull myself away from this self-defined deity. This is not to suggest that I am pulling back from blogging or that I am announcing I plan to take a sabbatical from posting. It is more to suggest I am trying to reestablish some balance between tackling the discipline of writing daily versus writing for a reason other than sharing thoughts and ideas.
When the process of writing becomes laborious and uninspired, it is a good time to reexamine why a person writes. It is also a good time to catch one's breath and clear one's head. So, I am going to allow myself the space -- with the exception of the ongoing series -- not to write so much every single day.
The upshot is that there may be days that I write a lot less than "average" and I'm sure there will be days I write a lot more. I want to move myself back to the point that I write when I have something substantive or whimsical to express, not because my OCD mind is trying to garner a certain number. ;-)
As you should know from my monthly weather report posts, I track the weather. I make notations on a paper calendar of precipitation totals for each day and I've recently added notations for the daily high temperature. This provides me with the basic data to figure out daily averages and whether or not we are on track to exceed the monthly average.
This obsession with numbers also extends to this blog. I check my stats several times per day to see the number of visits and page views. It's not that it makes any difference in the overall scheme of things; it's more the raw numbers provide me with another playground for analysis.
Lately, however, I realize my OCD nature has sort of subverted my intentions of the blog. I sometimes pen a post when I don't feel like it because I'm attempting to hit a number target for the day or hour. The specified number (e.g., 96 visits or 150 page views) becomes a god that I have decided to worship for that day or moment. I must do whatever is needed to appease the numbers god!
I am trying to pull myself away from this self-defined deity. This is not to suggest that I am pulling back from blogging or that I am announcing I plan to take a sabbatical from posting. It is more to suggest I am trying to reestablish some balance between tackling the discipline of writing daily versus writing for a reason other than sharing thoughts and ideas.
When the process of writing becomes laborious and uninspired, it is a good time to reexamine why a person writes. It is also a good time to catch one's breath and clear one's head. So, I am going to allow myself the space -- with the exception of the ongoing series -- not to write so much every single day.
The upshot is that there may be days that I write a lot less than "average" and I'm sure there will be days I write a lot more. I want to move myself back to the point that I write when I have something substantive or whimsical to express, not because my OCD mind is trying to garner a certain number. ;-)
I think this is a good idea. Personally, my own blog frequency seem to be something like...bowel movements. When you gotta go, you go. Not because your German grandmother is asking whether you have pooped yet today.
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