A few days ago, Miss Eagle asked me something via the comments on my Contemplation post. Her question was this:
I wonder what your thoughts might be vis a vis the contemplative way and blogging. I spend a lot of time writing (I have 4 blogs) and doing things like photography and research which support the blogging enterprise. Two of my blogs are overtly Christian – one on desert spirituality, the other on justice. Then there are the blogs that I read. This takes a lot of time and prioritising. The reading and writing involved in blogging and being part of a blogging community takes quite a bit of time. Fortunately, I am an older single woman so I do not have a family dependent on me. I find there are many contemplative aspects to what I do – primarily stemming from the fact that it is a highly individual experience that comes out of my spirit, out of who I am. Would you have some comments on this?
Well yes, being a fairly opinionated person, I do have some comments!
Blogging friends have talked in the past about the time it takes to keep it going. Some have to disappear for a few days or weeks at a time to tend other priorities. And Miss Eagle, I take my virtual hat off to you for writing four blogs! You are right about the time commitment.
So the first two questions are probably: why blog, and why blog about spirituality? For me, it started as a bit of an experiment, partly to discipline my unruly thoughts to stay with a way of life which needed more exploration. I’ve always liked the theory of keeping a journal, but experience shows I simply don’t maintain it. I believed that the act of writing publicly and sharing the thoughts of others would help me. And so it has.
Another strand is how to organise the time commitment. Well I don’t know what others find (I’d be very interested to know), but I tend to have some regular patterns and some patches of creativity and production when one idea sparks another and posts just tumble out of my head.
The regular patterns include times I set aside to read the wonderful blogs written by friends I’ve made online, and to comment on them when I can. (One of my regrets about the time commitment is that I often cannot comment as much, or as fully, as I would like to.) And I also set regular time aside to write what I think of as my “everyday” posts.
During the creative phases I scribble down ideas as they occur to me (on 6″x4″ notecards I keep in my bag) and draft and develop several posts at a time. Then they’re ready to polish up and post during the “drought” periods when I can’t think of a damn thing to say. A bit like keeping stuff in the freezer. Of course sometimes I get so excited I just have to get that post out there immediately!
The contemplative side of it comes partly in the act of writing itself. Lucy uses the Flannery O’Connor quote “I write to discover what I know” and that’s true for me as well. I don’t plan the actual writing ahead much, sometimes never. For me this kind of writing is an uncovering, sometimes gentle, sometimes driven. There’s something contemplative in allowing just the right word to come. Waiting for it.
And I think living in a contemplative way is all about discovering, or uncovering. Peeling off layers. We are like lamps covered in grime. We will never in this life be able to hold the naked flame in our hands without the protection of the lamp. But we can rub and polish away the grime so that we can see the flame more clearly.
So what interferes with taking a contemplative approach to the world of blogging? Ego! Gentle reader, I have to break it to you that I check the readership stats of this blog obsessively! And sometimes I write a post after which I smirk a satisfied smirk and give myself a pat on the back. These are never the posts which generate much response or traffic!
So yes, Miss Eagle, I do find that my blogging experience fits into an overall contemplative approach to living, as long as I approach it in that spirit. Also, I just plain love the blogging world!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I have thought of my blog as a tool to keep me writing. This idea of blogging as a contemplative spiritual practice is intriguing…I will have to think about this more! Thanks for the nudge.
I am glad to hear your thoughts on this. Perspective in this realm is always necessary and one way to keep perspective is to consider the approaches and thoughts of others. Thanks for the perspective.
I love the idea of putting blog posts in the “freezer!”
And I too have a sad obsession with who visits my blog. I’ll know I’ve reached real maturity when I no longer look nor care.
Great post!
I really resonate with what you’ve written about blogging and the contemplative life. Time is an issue for me, as are those dry periods when I really have nothing to say. I make notes in a Moleskine notebook whenever anything comes to my mind or I see or take part in something that needs blogging about.
Yes, blogging is about uncovering. I mostly write to discover what I know and think. Sometimes, sadly, I write to show off. And, yes, I’m obsessed with my blog’s stats (I recently lost about half my readership when I changed my Feedburner feed!). In my better moments, I really don’t care about how many read what I write, but I do think of my readers when I write.
Now, there’s a question: should one shape ones writing around what one thinks ones readers will respond to? Or should one keep to writing what one understands of the truth, regardless of how readers may or may not respond?
But I think writing can be a prayerful and contemplative activity – and the blog is a means of sharing it with others.
Thanks everyone, glad this post has had some resonances and that I’m not the only ‘stats-istician’ around.
Barney, interesting about shaping writing according to one’s readers. In my better (i.e. less showing off) moments, I think writing should be all about what one understands of the truth, as you put it. And that will attract interested readers.
However, there’s an extent to which regular readers probably so affect my writing, just because a conversation is developing, not a monologue.
Tess ,
I liked your blog.
Nice way of sharing thoughts.
Contemplative , reflective , prayerful ;
i like it this way.
Akash
Thank you Akash, and welcome.
I do my best to ignore stats but after years on forums – I’ve learned that popularity on the internet is just like school and it just ain’t worth it.