Becoming Bloghardy
- bloghardy [blog-hahr-dee]
- - adjective. a weblog capable of enduring fatigue, hardship, exposure, etc.; sturdy; daring; courageous.
A blog is nothing but the writers, designers and contributors it houses, so it is in your best interest to make sure you, as a member of the household, become as bloghardy as you can be.
Enduring…
Fatigue. Creating content is easy. It is already all around you, ready for the picking. The hard part is dressing it up, cleaning it, polishing it and making sure it safely navigates its way in the world. All of this is time consuming, especially since the majority of bloggers do it in their off time.
“Blogging is often more of a lifestyle choice than a hobby or a business model, and that choice often has its cost.” - Mark Seall (via Problogger)
We all need recognition and an occasional kick in the ass. Here are a few things that work: writing series posts, awesome reader comments, engaging the blogosphere, reading other blogs to spark new ideas, contests, outside motivation: gym, hobbies, dating, sex, cafe conversation, bananas, etc.
Hardship. It seems as if we are not always in control of our lives and hardships come and go as they may. But, even though life is what happens around us, whether we are present or not; remember, happiness is how we choose to play with the life that inevitably crosses our path.
Difficulty and suffering, then, is nothing but a facet of life that we have decided to stick out our tongues at instead of discovering that, while it may not like to make castles in the sand, it doesn’t mind splashing in the waves, and we don’t mind a little water.
The worst experiences in our lives are not the worst because of what happened, they are the worst because of what we failed to see; they are the worst because of the blindness we let settle. Keep yourself open and hardship becomes a teacher — the best one you’ll ever have.
Exposure. The limelight can be a bit blinding. Grab a pair of designer shades and stare right back at it. Keep pursuing your passion. You either thrive on the chaos or head for the fallout shelter. Either way, exposure is a good thing, it is evidence that your voice echoes back from the void every now and then.
Becoming…
Sturdy. Everything you do is a seed, and every person you affect along the way is a root. Nurture them and they will grow. It can be hard sometimes; starting new things and seemingly going at them alone but there is a wonderful consolation prize at the end for those who endure. Strength.
Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.
Daring. Rules are for the wicked. Or, cattle. You’re neither. You’re a flesh and blood human being and your mind has given you the ability to traverse infinite possibility. Don’t mock that gift. We are not sure if this is the only life we live so if we fail to be daring, we fail to truly live.
Courageous. Be brave enough to be daring. Grow a sack. Pump it full of metaphorical Crystal Meth. Jump off a bridge with your homemade parachute just to show the world it is exciting and delightful to do so. The courage you possess and use, gives courage to others and completes the circle of spirit. Become a role model. Have the courage to enjoy the ride.
Are you bloghardy?
Image credit: KaCey97007.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ll pass on the Meth, but…
This is the most profound statement I’ve read in a long time.
James Chartrand - Men with Penss last blog post..How to Use a Laptop In the Sun
I had a roommate once that use to be a heavy Meth user (not when I knew him) and he said he used to stay up for 3 days at a time and work. So, essentially he would dick around for weeks at a time and in 3 days get a whole months worth of work finished. Talk about productivity!…too bad Meth makes your face fall off.
Thanks James.
what a great post, well written, and applicable to all facets of life. this is something that should be handed out at high school graduation. it’s very inspirational and the “be daring” message is invaluable
Wow Jay.
I agree with JustMe; your message is expansive. Your words on influence resonate: “Everything you do is a seed, and every person you affect along the way is a root.” The same message stated differently would not have had the same effect. It’s one thing to understand a concept in theory, quite another to convey. I struggle with words and communicating “why”.
What’s with bananas? Does that go with… nevermind.
@JustMe - I do, do that don’t I? I think when I wrote it, I wasn’t exactly thinking about blogging necessarily. *Shhhh*…don’t tell. I also think it would be fun to speak at a HS graduation. Perhaps, one day.
@Steph - The beauty of words, right? When I write the why, I stop thinking about the actual writing and about making sense, somehow, it usually works.
Bananas go with everything. Some things are much funner than others.
Hey,
This is the Thesis theme right? I like how you replaced the one bigger graphic with the multiple ads. Nice.
Indeed it is. Great theme, very versatile.
I’m going to blatantly copy James and pull out my favorite quote from the post:
Hey! My quote code didn’t work. It was supposed to be:
Melissa Donovans last blog post..Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
You know, I still haven’t read anything by Neal Stephenson. I have to get on that.
Wow, I just read this post and realized - I am anything but bloghardy. It’s a quality that I’ll need to develop, not to mention it also being quite a useful quality in life.
Snow Crash wasn’t bad.
I personally liked it, but it’s not one of those read and re-read books, for me personally.
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