Blogging Addiction

The New York Times has an interesting article today about an "over blogger." It is a long article to read, but it does show an interesting but sad side to blogging.

The internet is a big place. I use Google Analytics to track the number of hits to my blog and my webpage and where they come from. It amazes me that so many of the hits come from new people. I have to wonder how do they find me. I definitely do make posts and then publicize them when I think I have information worth sharing. So I know where some of my readers come from.

My blogs are vastly different from the writer of the article. I hope that I have useful information - things that will help people either in their photography or their spiritual lives. I hope that I find things that will be interesting, entertaining, or inspiring. I want my blog to touch people's lives in a way that makes life richer, fuller, happier, and more spiritual.

I am also hopeful to be a professional Christian writer, motivational speaker, and professional photographer. I want my blog to be part of my "platform" that will become a readership when my first book (whether Christian or photographic) gets published.

I think that sometimes we need to share things that are going on in our lives - when what we experience and how we deal with it can help someone else going through the same situation.

But I also read several discussion forums and it is amazing that on the internet things that I take for granted like politeness and civility become lost. People will say things so much more viciously on the internet to people they have never met in person. Internet posts don't give you the body language or facial expressions so what seems like an innocuous remark gets misinterpreted and produces anger and ill will where none may have been intended.

There are so many outlets these days as well - My Space, Facebook, Blogger, Live Journal, Twitter. While it may be very important psychologically to express our feelings about the things that happen in our lives, sometimes putting them out there in public can have consequences we don't expect. When we post private things in public places, anyone and everyone has access to them. While sometimes it is good to be transparent about where we are in life, other times those angry feelings and emotions are fleeting. Far better to express them in person or over the telephone to our closest and most trusted friends or in a private journal for our eyes only.

I stepped away to have breakfast and think more about this post and where I wanted it to go. It is amazing to me how often my morning readings give wisdom appropriate for the day. From my morning readings from Grace Notes by Alexandra Stoddard come these words of wisdom:

A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can - Michele de Montaigne

Concentrate on seeing all the beauty your soul can absorb but turn away from what is ugly and vile and degrading. The higher your sights , the better your spirits.

We all have neighbors. Greet them on the sidewalk or in the elevator, but try not to peer through their windows. Windows are to look out from, not into.