There's something in the air

Warning: I'm about to get all meta on your ass.

Maybe you've noticed it too.  My last several posts have been distinctively... halfhearted.  Writing them has felt more like a struggle and chore than it used to be.  I haven't been around to comment very much. 

Yes, it's part of the cyclical nature of blogging.  Real life does tend to interfere (shocker!)  I've been spending my days embroiled in a tremendous workload, or trying to get my medical treatments jump-started again (long story, but it has involved hours on the phone but no progress) -- and my nights catching up on household stuff, playing with my girls, or spending time with friends and family.

It's interesting, though -- there seems to be a lot of this blogging discontent/burnout/whatever going around the blogsphere lately. 

Mary Tsao had an excellent post about the dark side of blogging, including the fact that blogging is a lot of work and sometimes we're stressed by our own perception of success (how many posts, how good the posts are, etc.)

Kvetch has been struggling with the ups and downs of blogging -- how to keep writing and be true to her voice, how to cope with feeling like a "blog nerd." (which, by the way, she is completely NOT.)

Izzy admits to feeling rather blah about blogging since a certain blogging conference just last month.  She's struggling with time management (yep, I can relate to that) and it sounds like her online time is going to have to take a backseat to other aspects of life for the time being.

Dawn is taking a hiatus.  So is Suzanne.  So are Beth (Naked in My Pants), Dani, Sarah, Mrs. Fortune, V, and Bon.  Some of their breaks will be brief, others will be longer.

One of my new, dear blog friends, Mommy off the Record, feels she is at a blogging crossroads.  Blogging, she says, is getting in the way of life.

And most sadly, my dear friend Mari -- whose blog I've been reading almost since I started blogging myself -- has decided to call it quits with Mommy-Brain.

I'm not the first one to notice this trend of people struggling with finding a place for blogging in their lives, striving to achieve a balance.  Shannon had an excellent post about it a while back -- she's one of the most observant people I know, and her post is no exception. 

You know I've thought seriously about giving up the blog before.  I'm not saying that I'm there again, because I feel like I still have so many things I want to write about.  This morning I was planning to write about my girls, and how I've seen major strides in them this summer.  I have several other posts in the works, too.

I know we've all discussed this subject here before, so I'm not looking for advice or commisseration or tips on maintaining life's balance.  I just present this material to you for your consideration. 

If I was getting paid to write this my editor would probably ask me to come up with some brilliant hypotheses about what's happening to the world of blogging, why people are going through these cycles of intense writing and burnout.  And if I was feeling more witty and perceptive I might find a way to wrap it all up with a neat bow.  But I am just an old dog with no new tricks.

So... on a more positive note... how about this weather we're having?

Edited to add: not you too, Amy?!?!?!

Comments

[Chantal]

I often ask myself how long I plan to blog. Some days (like recently) I rack my brain and feel like every story has been told over and over.

Testify!

[Mother]

Blogging can be a wild beast - and I admit to have been sucked in.

I have to say that since Blogher, I've felt more relaxed about it - not so worried about comments and posting and reading - just going about my business and write what comes to me. It seems that I have way more to write about now that I've stopped worrying about what to write about.

If I could only do something about the obsessive email checking....

[Jamie]

I actually removed a parenting and a celebrity gossip blog from my Bloglines subscriptions today. It just takes a LOT of time to keep up with my reading and posting and quite honestly if I wasn't at the office to do it four days a week I probably would cut back even more. I've started trying to not post daily and to turn my laptop off at night. Blogging can be addictive, though. I just don't want to get burned out.

[Jess]

As you know, I feel this way all the time. But I write mostly for my far flung (and close by) friends and family who are for some reason interested in where I'm going, what I'm reading, and what I'm listening to. I often wonder how people with children and/or full or even part time jobs manage to post every day---I average about two posts a week and am the world's crappiest commenter. But it's working for me, so far.

I like all of your posts, even the ones you label as half-hearted. So there.

[Mommy off the Record]

Just when I didn't need more to read, you've presented some very interesting looking links on the very topic I've been grappling with. Damn you, woman. (J/k--I could never be mad at you...and I truly am interesting in reading others' perspectives on this topic. Thanks for posting this :))

[Dawn]

So glad it is something in the air and not just me. I am still not at home (will be going back this week) and maybe I will pick up where I have left off. It is not that I have nothing to say anymore, it is that I am seeing some of the people who read my blog on a daily basis, and that makes it harder to write somehow. For me. And I have also started writing in a journal again. I love writing and I hope I get back into the swing of things when I am back home.

[Dawn]

So glad it is something in the air and not just me. I am still not at home (will be going back this week) and maybe I will pick up where I have left off. It is not that I have nothing to say anymore, it is that I am seeing some of the people who read my blog on a daily basis, and that makes it harder to write somehow. For me. And I have also started writing in a journal again. I love writing and I hope I get back into the swing of things when I am back home.

[madge]

Blogalaise. I've caught it too.

I probably need to be a little more diligent with the hand washing.

[Michele]

I agree. I started out with lots to say and no readers and even though I wasnt doing it for readers, it was still nice to have some feedback once in a while.
Now I have some great regulars and sometimes the best I can come up with is a meme I copied from someone else.
Bloglaise. Good term.

[Michele]

I agree. I started out with lots to say and no readers and even though I wasnt doing it for readers, it was still nice to have some feedback once in a while.
Now I have some great regulars and sometimes the best I can come up with is a meme I copied from someone else.
Blogalaise. Good term.

[bubandpie]

Great links. It's educational for a little blogger like me to see even bigwigs like Mary Tsao et al struggling with audience issues. There's always somebody bigger in the competitive-blogging pond.

[mamatulip]

These are all thoughts I've had dancing in my head, too...for me, when I don't enjoy it anymore, it will be over. In the meantime, I try hard to not put pressure on myself -- to always comment, to always post, to always have something smart, funny, "on" to say.

I try to relax over it all. Easier said than done sometimes.

[Elizabeth]

I hope you keep at it, because you are funny and clever and I like all your posts, even if you say they are half-hearted.

There is pressure, maybe that we just put on ourselves, to always write something that will attract readers, get us comments, make an impression. I agree with MamaT, we should relax and just write if and when we feel like it.

[Amy]

Yes. Me too, Nancy! There are too many great blogs out there to read, and I get sucked in and then don't do ANYTHING else. Not good for me OR my family.

[metro mama]

Thanks for these links - I'm off to check them out. Julie

[sweatpantsmom]

Nancy, thanks for the great post. You summed up so much of what I've been thinking lately.

I've been suffering from major blog burnout, mostly for the reason that you mentioned, that blogging was starting to get in the way of real life.

I'm relieved to see that others are going through the same thing, and it wasn't just due to my absolute lack of creativity and laziness, and the fact that I would rather sit and watch the same episodes of SpongeBob over and over instead of blogging. (Hey, don't knock it - that sponge is damn funny.)

[kittenpie]

I'm feeling this way about my work blog. Run out of ideas that would work for it, kind of sick of being expected to pump one out every week for the last eight months... enh.

[Waya]

Wow! I'm so glad you wrote this! I've been so addicted to reading/keeping up with posting etc...that I'm neglecting the houseworks, playing with my children and that's not good at all! Glad to hear the big names are feeling this, something little fish like me can relate to.

[something blue]

Wow! Thank you for compiling all the links. I've noticed the same trend and I chalk it up to the weather as well as an ever-expanding reading list.

Blog etiquette requires too much energy but to blog needs to be somewhat of a selfish act. I'm sure that many women struggle with that concept. I know that I do.

[Her Bad Mother]

MY GOD WonderBaby just deleted my entire coment. Something about how, for me, the writing's the thing. I love the community, but it's secondary. If I run out of things to write about, or if I feel that community pressures get in the way of the writing... well, that's when I'll take my break. Otherwise, I'll keep lovin' it...

[Heidi]

I have felt like I'm a watered down version of myself lately. It tends to happen whenever we do projects or life gets crazy. It's almost like I lose myself in whatever is going on at the time.

I don't think I'll ever stop blogging because I do it more for me than for anyone else.

However, when I do it for me in public, I must admit that I so try to be a little wittier than I did when it was a hand-written journal.

I read other people's blogs because I love to read about other people. I love biographies and autobiographies. What better way to get that than reading about other people's daily/monthly goings-on?

Needless to say, I'll still read if you write drivel...but I know you never would!

[oshee]

I think this is interesting. For me, I didn't blog about blogging. I just stopped until I felt like I could do it again. And now I am feeling like I am struggling through. I'll get back to the love soon, I hope.

[Shannon (Sentimental)]

Yea I have noticed blogging has that effect on me too. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes I hate it.

Other times I just plain feel indifferent.

Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it.

As for taking the break or not feeling the love. We understand. Do what you gotta do. :)

[krista]

I like when you get Meta.