Looking at the contents of this blog – it’s obvious what my New Year’s resolution should be.
Blog more.
But why?
I have to have a good reason.
FYI (whoever you are!) I have loads of postings still sitting in my drafts folder either waiting to be finished or awaiting the right moment to be unleashed on the blogosphere. I also regularly purge my postings so there did used to be more than there is now OK?
Anyway I typed “reasons to blog” into Google and chose “I’m feeling lucky” – ’cause I am! I’m sitting here looking out at the rain falling gently on our parched lawn. The birds are going nuts and I reckon I can see the leaves on the trees lifting themselves up in thankfulness for the cool refreshment they’re receiving.
Oops sorry – got distracted there!
My “lucky” answer was an about.com site “10 Reasons to start a blog”. I’m thinking already – “OK, so these are the reasons to start a blog – what about reasons to continue? Continuing is my New Year’s resolution after all.”
Maybe if I look at these reasons to start, I’ll find a reason to continue, so don’t get ahead of yourself Blanchy!
1. To express your thoughts and opinions
I thought I expressed them quite well verbally and to people who either asked to hear them, were in the vicinity when I expressed them or were employed by me and so were subjected to them quite regularly. Blogging will therefore introduce my thoughts and opinions to a whole new audience. Maybe. Who reads this stuff anyway?
2. To Market or Promote Something
OK, so this is starting to make sense. We do have an in-house blog where we post all the nice, hilarious and inspiring stuff people write to us. That’s for our in-house pleasure and edification. It lets us know we’re on the right track, keeps everyone in touch with our client’s world and even gives us ideas on what else we can do. But who continues to read a blog that’s just marketing and promotion? Maybe a blog is a good forum to introduce new features, discuss implementation techniques. But this is not a company or product blog, this is just me. Do I want to market or promote myself? Why?
3. To Help People
This is good. I like to help people. I don’t see myself as an advisor or guru nor do I feel I am qualified to advise the great unwashed or want that responsibility. How to help in a blogging manner needs some thought. I will think.
4. To establish yourself as an expert
This one is funny! I don’t take myself all that seriously. The blogs (and tweets) I read by folk who claim or are accorded ”expert” status all quote each other and/or newsfeeds . Much like a Google algorithim the more “experts” you quote the higher ranked you become. I do wonder if some bloggers have personal opinions at all as they appear to be channels living vicariously off the opinions of others.
5. To connect with people like you
I use Facebook, email, txt, LinkedIn and Twitter to connect with my type of people. For this lousy letter writer could blogging be a sort of communal letter without the mail merge facility of personalisation? Facebook does that. Blogging to me is a rather one sided conversation with a tendency for long-winded monologues. With Twitter there is an awareness that you have connected as your followers have revealed themselves. Blogging appears a lonely pursuit.
6. To make a difference
Yes! That is my whole reason for being and how I like to live my life. This requires greater thought. How can blogging aid something I try to do every day? It all seems a bit too public and trumpet sounding for this shy, retiring do-gooder.
7. To stay active or knowledgeable in a field or topic
I read and listen to stay active and knowledgeable. I also know that if I write something down I remember it better! Everyone else doesn’t have to read my takes on someone else’s wisdom though. Things could become a bit like Chinese Whispers or its internet equivalent – urban legends! I do have my private places where I might pen some poetry or prose – it’s private!
8. To stay connected with friends and family
Yes OK, before Facebook, Flickr, txt and Twitter. Mind you I do know folk that aren’t on FB and they may like to know what I’m doing and thinking. Really?
9. To make money
I have a day job.
10. To have fun and be creative
A blog interface does not encourage creativity beyond the strictures of the platform itself. You can use a blog to record and skite about your creativity in other fields. Is a discipline fun?
I’m going to need some better reasons to continue blogging. I’ll find them. I’m sure they will be here somewhere. So many people can’t be wrong – can they? I do enjoy reading some blogs regularly its just I don’t think I can be as witty, erudite, wise, relevant or necessary.
A little encouragement wouldn’t go astray 
. I shall tweet!
I live on a farm.
OK, it’s a small farm but is is a farm nevertheless. We have cows. In deference to it’s size it is called THE NEARLY FARM. Capitals afford it more importance than it deserves so maybe The Nearly Farm is more appropriate.
I am bemused by folk whose pastime is Farmville. The Facebook variety. It’s almost like farming has achieved a romanticism, a chic image where exciting things happen like (let’s see….) someone else stops by to fertilise your farm. Like that ever happens in the real world! Did they get a soil analysis done before their farm was fertilised? You can do a lot of damage by fertilising with the wrong stuff you know, just look at the dust bowls of the USA.
Noone has ever just stopped by to fertilise our farm. They have been ordered and paid for, then you wait for the right weather and once the moon is in the right quadrant they roll in with their trucks and spreaders and fertilise. Them over the river that have a real farm with some hilly stuff get planes to fertilise theirs. Planes don’t stop by, they pass over. Preferably. For the health and longevity of the pilot.
Anyone that doesn’t have a Facebook account and friends that play with Farmville on FB will think I have totally lost it if they read further. For their information Farmville is something that some folk do online that leaves strange messages on our Facebook pages recording the activities on their farms. The messages are strange. It is unreal. I’m just telling the story here.
Some folks find that adorable baby calves have strayed onto their farms, some of them are green. I thought at first that they needed to fix the fences but it appears they are delivered in a nappy by storks. I must warn them that adorable baby calves that are away from their mamas for too long get very noisy. If you can’t find their mamas, you may have to mother them on to one of your nursing cows, or if you don’t have a nursing cow you’ll have to buy formula. Formula will give them the squits as its a change of diet for their sensitive tums. Squits are nasty, messy and smelly and you’ll get some on you. Goodness knows how ghastly a green adorable calf’s squits are!
These adorable green calves presumably have mothers somewhere who are missing them very much. They’ll be making a noise as well and there will be farmers out looking for their lost calves. By the look of the pictures on my Facebook page they have been kidnapped by storks so they could have come a long way. Have they been TB tested? I have to be able to tell those people where our animals were born and I don’t think “the stork brought it” will cut the mustard.
I’m off to the farm now. I’ve done my day job and I’m heading back to the Nearly Farm (aka Farmville 1.0) to deal with fences that need fixing, weeds that need pulling, paddocks that need topping. If I find that a clumsy reindeer from Farmville has stumbled onto our farm I’m going to be in trouble with MAF and the neighbours.
Maybe there is a good reason why folk stay indoors and play with their own Nearly Farms online. It ain’t the real world though.
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