The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

Another One Bites The Dust?

There is an epidemic going on people … an epidemic that is striking indiscriminately and taking away people who we have learnt to care about dearly.

And what is that epidemic?  Bloggers who give up blogging.

First NP needed a rest [but is gladly back] … then Russell started muttering he was going to back off blogging for a while and now Marucs/Sacrum has declared his intention to ‘pack it all in’.  Hell, if it carries on at this rate, there’ll be no more blogs for me to read!

Now I can understand why the guys feel/felt this way … because blogging is like crack … it’s addictive, especially if you start getting abit popular and have people commenting on your site each and every day.

Before long, rather than using the blog to simply express your point of view [and damn who sees it] you feel a pressure to not only write something new each and every day, but to write something that you feel will be relevant to the people who you know are checking out your blog each and every day.  Suddenly the focus is on number of comments rather than expression of personal opinion.

In a matter of weeks, you can turn into a character who is obsessively checking for comments, stats and links …  seeing more and more of your time being taking up … ending with your loved ones feeling second best to a computer and a bunch of blog friends.

As NP said … blogging can quickly start to run you rather than the other way round.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Now I don’t know the reasons behind Russell and Marcus’ decision to stop … and maybe they have nothing to do with what I have written above … but I do hope it is only a temporary halt, because not only do I love reading/hearing/seeing their views, thoughts, comments, moments-of-madness [even if I disagree with them] but because I regard them – especially Marcus – as a mate and to have him ‘go away’ would be awfully sad. 

It’s like that last day of school where you are excited and nervous about what the future will bring but also sad because you know – despite what everyone says – that you may never see again, some of the friends you’ve have spent the last few years of your life with.

Dramatic? Maybe but it’s how I feel.

Yes … yes … I know he said he’d still be around commenting on other people’s blogs but I don’t think that is good enough quite frankly.

He is a very smart, talented person … and while he may have fallen foul of trying to ‘entertain’ rather than be true to himself [and when he is, he is astoundingly good] … he has alot of very valuable and powerful things to say – things that are deeply important to him and if he stops doing this, then I think he is doing himself and the World a major dis-service.

Marcus, I hope you take this comment in the manner it is meant … your objectivity, experience, thoughts, opinions, talent, infectiousness and madness are fantastic … by all means get some perspective on how important blogging is versus other aspects of your life [and that goes for anyone else feeling this way], but for God’s sake don’t stop for good, it would be terrible … for us and for you.

[I genuinely worry how you would cope keeping quiet about things that you feel are wrong/right/important. Not sausages – though that was great fun – but real issues that bother you. Surely you can see how you have liberated other people to look at their own lives and question elements that have been restricting or creating happiness?]

I think we should all be like Rob M … a very talented guy who can express his views with wit, clarity and intelligence without the need to write each and every day.  I am on my way there, I already have his bald head.

In all seriousness, I think blogging is great.

Sure it can get out of hand … hell, I have about 8 blogs on the go and have now been asked to be the main blog writer for Media Magazine … but as long as you are aware of the addictive and time consuming nature of it all [and I have my lovely Jill to keep-me-in-line, not to mention my partners who like me spending time on paying business, not just blog posts] you should be OK. [emphasis on should]

I started blogging for a number of reasons … some ego, some about personal expression and some about satisfying my curiosity.

And after about 12 months of doing it, I love that … [1] people stop by [2] express their relevant and not-so-relevant views and sometimes [3] passionately disagree with my viewpoint and aren’t afraid to say so [whilst still being decent, open and genuine]

However what I love most is that I have come into contact with some lovely, smart, genuine, talented and intelligent people … people who I would love to [and I absolutely mean this] work with in some way in the future.  

George, Andy and myself were talking about this recently and all agreed that interms of finding potential new colleagues, blogging has been far, far effective than any headhunter we’ve used … and we sincerely hope that one day – if you are willing – there’s a chance we can move this ‘desire’ to some sort of ‘reality’. [For your sins, your names are already on our ‘DOUBLE D’ list … a list of people that one day we’d “like to get our hands on” Ha!]

So to wrap up …

Well, the first thing to say is that I have no intention to rest from blogging for the foreseeable future [bad luck] … I have too much to say and too much to learn … secondly, I hope people continue to forge friendships [as Age writes about in his great post about meeting swearalot Lauren!] because it helps celebrate and liberate the power and beauty of creativity [the seemingly common subject to us all, regardless how we manifest it] whilst also making us feel happier and more interested about life … and finally, I send out a personal plea to Russell, Marcus and anyone else thinking of stopping blogging for a considerable time or for all together …

Please don’t … it’s nice having you and your thoughts around [not just your odd comment on our odd post]

Thank you.

PS: NP … do you like the way I got a Queen reference into this? Bet you like the first photo you evil bastard, ha!

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