Being a bloggerist [as i like to call myself] can be a roller-coaster whirlwind of emotions, and often is.
The tension that exists between writing what you want to, what feels like it might be importantly significant, or giving in to the little red guy on your shoulder of page view stats where you slide into writing what the people want to hear.
Sometimes those things line up and it is easy. Any time i write about Relationships or what has become one of my favourite and the most popular of topics on my blog, that of Taboo Topics [You know, those rarely spoken about topics in church and even beyond, that many generous friends of mine have been bold enough to share their stories on], the people flock, like flocks of… um… flocking things.
But there are other times when i write about something meaningful and important and almost everyone stays away…
Two posts i wrote recently which i hoped people would read, but which i knew the titles alone were probably enough to scare most folks off, and at most it would be the choir once more – those who don’t really need to hear it because they are already doing it – who would stop by for a visit. Neither was particularly read at all – not read and disagreed with or read and ignored, but not even looked at:
When Violence Stares you in the Face and you Turn and Walk Away
These two posts on Christmas i thought would get a few more eyes on – maybe my reputation of being a Christmas grinch and the fact that i used a picture of the grinch to accompany the piece i wrote meant people stayed away cos who wants to feel bad about Christmas. But actually they are both really good pieces with a lot of positive in them. Especially Graham’s two pieces which i stumbled on online – was hoping if i made it obvious that someone else had written them, they would get some eyes:
Two True Meanings of Christmas – Guest Post by Graham Heslop
Then there was this post on Accountatextability which maybe turned people off by having no idea what i was talking about – this is an excellent way you can help out a friend who might be struggling with something [from porn addiction to temptation to cut to drinking] and i hope people will find it:
It’s as Easy as Accountatextability
You can try tricking people with a blog title that reads something like, ’10 Ways to the best Sex ever’ or ‘The baby that rode on a kitten’ [seriously i’m going to make that video one day and it will BREAK. THE. INTERNET] but is actually a post about how they should tip the guy who watches their car better, but you will likely lose them within a line or two. Not many people like to be tricked.
Or you can actually get some friends of yours to write about Sex Before Marriage or even Sex in Marriage and see if anyone bites, um, i mean reads the post.
Or else i guess you can just dial out of the stats pages and continue to write about and share space for others to write about the things that are meaningful and just simply hope that those who need to read it will pitch up. That as the choir continue to cheer you on and sing praises to your posts, that every now and then, hopefully when it matters, a non choir persona will stop by and be challenged, encouraged or transformed by the words you write.
At the end of the day, i guess all i can be is faithful, and trust that the right people will show up…
After all, you did. I thank you for your time.
My two most-viewed posts had titles which included the words ‘skeletons’ and ‘hipster’. Neither of these posts were about subjects I am particularly passionate about! I’m still working out how to walk that line of what I want to write – and what people want to read. Keep up the good work of setting an example for the rest of us 🙂
Thankx for stopping by and for the encouraging comments. Good to know it’s not only me!
love brett fish