There's no real reason I should feel compelled to post something on Monday, merely to avoid leaving this space blank. The arbiters of bloggish style, taste and productivity say that posting every day is the key to success, money, and really delightful interactions with attractive members of your preferred gender for sexually focused attention-seeking.
By those lights, this posting is the biggest mistake I could make, since it is utterly devoid of content.
Oh, sure, it has words. Maybe even a bit of right-brain humor, but actual content? No.
And yet, is that a bad thing? Even when I have nothing meaningful to say, no copper-bottomed contribution to the marketplace of ideas, is the fact that I'm posting anyway of any value?
To you? No. All you get is introspective blather.
To me? Well...
I get to say that I've posted something instead of nothing. I composed and typed these sentences, which has had a salient effect on my mood.
CONFESSION: I have a massive amount of stuff to do today and in the rest of this week. Yet I was sitting, rather paralyzed as I contemplated what to do first, how to do it, etc. My time was NOT being spent productively. Curious, of course, to think that composing, typing and posting a meaningless, vapid piece of fluff could count as "productivity", but Ernest Hemingway used to re-sharpen his entire mugful of pencils before he began writing.
There is a power to these pre-writing rituals, power which is not purely talismanic. The physical effects are as real as the emotional. This power derives not from the words that come from them; these words are of no more value by themselves than a singer's la-la-la-la, mi-mi-mi-mi during warmups. No, it's from the effect they have on our brains. "I have now cleared my throat," says Mr. Brain, "and am ready to sing."
Which I shall now do.
===== Feel free to comment on this or any other post.
By those lights, this posting is the biggest mistake I could make, since it is utterly devoid of content.
Oh, sure, it has words. Maybe even a bit of right-brain humor, but actual content? No.
And yet, is that a bad thing? Even when I have nothing meaningful to say, no copper-bottomed contribution to the marketplace of ideas, is the fact that I'm posting anyway of any value?
To you? No. All you get is introspective blather.
To me? Well...
I get to say that I've posted something instead of nothing. I composed and typed these sentences, which has had a salient effect on my mood.
CONFESSION: I have a massive amount of stuff to do today and in the rest of this week. Yet I was sitting, rather paralyzed as I contemplated what to do first, how to do it, etc. My time was NOT being spent productively. Curious, of course, to think that composing, typing and posting a meaningless, vapid piece of fluff could count as "productivity", but Ernest Hemingway used to re-sharpen his entire mugful of pencils before he began writing.
There is a power to these pre-writing rituals, power which is not purely talismanic. The physical effects are as real as the emotional. This power derives not from the words that come from them; these words are of no more value by themselves than a singer's la-la-la-la, mi-mi-mi-mi during warmups. No, it's from the effect they have on our brains. "I have now cleared my throat," says Mr. Brain, "and am ready to sing."
Which I shall now do.
===== Feel free to comment on this or any other post.
but what you get is interaction with me instead..
ReplyDeleteI've never understood that "you must blog every day" thing. If nothing's happening, why worry about it? I try to post 3-4 times a week, although some weeks I'm doing well to post anything more than the weekly #FridayFlash.
ReplyDeletePeople follow blogs in various ways (this one I check when you tweet about it), and I'll check most in my RSS tracker once or twice a week — even the two or three I *do* follow that have daily updates.
I think *what* gets posted is more important than *how often*. Fortunately, you have that down pretty good. Usually. ;-)
"...and really delightful interactions with attractive members of your preferred gender for sexually focused attention-seeking..."
ReplyDeleteLove this - the above, that is. Even when you're just getting words out, Tony, to ensure there are words out there, you do it with style and wit.
Not bad for a Monday morning.
Ha haa I want some of those interactions! I don't post every day but certainly do post a few times a week.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this Monday morning ramble even if it is Tuesday for me! ^_^
I am familiar with your malaise. My marketing consultants want me to comment on ten blogs a day. I didn't want to this morning because I've got much to do: sleep, eat, and watch the "Shawshank Redemption" marathon.
ReplyDeleteSo, here is the obligatory comment. Hope it produces some hits on my blog.
Your blogfriend,
O.M. Typing