Waiting for Your Blog to Ignite

Eventually, like a fireplace, your blog will ignite.

       
 
   People embark on creating a blog for many reasons.  For some, it's the documentation of a personal journey, and for a time they don't expose it to being read by others, let alone strangers.  They quietly document their moments, and occasionally their pictures, in a manner so as to more clearly recall this part of their lives in the future.  Some, even have it made into a blog book, sometimes for themselves, or sometimes shared with family.  Others create a blog to hone writing talent, or perhaps to discipline themselves to write a little bit daily. With practice, this does become easier.   Others blog to impart knowledge to others, and a blog can do this well. A lifetime spent cooking, gardening, raising children or animals brought insights, and we are here in part, to share these insights while we are on Earth.
              I have three blogs.  One was borne of my need to journal about the unexpected loss of my youngest son when he was twelve and a half, which occurred during the early Christmas season four years ago.  There was much to say, and still often is. Although the blog eventually became the preface to a book on the subject which is available worldwide, the blog sat almost unread by anyone else but me for a long time. This is fine.  There are many reasons to blog.    The second blog I did grew out of a radio program I did briefly in which I spoke about family disaster preparedness.  I provided so much information during the program that listeners wanted a place on the internet they could go for web addresses, pictures of products and items I had discussed, and as a synopsis of each show.   What started as a notice board quickly grew to information with pictures, and an editorial board for me on occasion.  With a radio program and podcast fueling it, it caught on fairly quickly.  My last blog is this one.  It has existed for weeks, and has yet to ignite and then to catch fire.  I don't worry too much about subscribers.  A lot of people bookmark blogs and visit them regularly, but decline to join      a.) because they don't wish to be contacted as being a regular reader, and     b.) because if they wish to unsubscribe later, that this can prove difficult.  I have subscribed myself to blogs in the past and then wanted to leave and been stuck there.
              Most people start writing a blog and expect it to ignite and have a following immediately, while most do not.  It is perfectly okay to be writing a blog for a period of time, in relative privacy, before strangers discover it. Don't be afraid to write in silence, collect your thoughts, and desensitize yourself, in a sense to the process of rapid thought, and then relatively rapid writing in response.  Blog writing is a skill, a lot like article writing, letter writing, and even a bit like outlining while writing a book. Allow yourself to make executive decisions about your blog in those early weeks.  Decide what your scope will be. Decide how much about your family and friends you will share.  Realize that more people will ultimately read what you think are private thoughts than you wanted.  The important thing is to get started.  This blog has yet to ignite, but it will. It will eventually be discovered, and then people will return every one to three days to see what I am thinking, or what has happened, or even engage in some shadenfreude.   Schadenfreude for those of you not familiar is the very human, but not so nice tendency of human beings to derive pleasure from hearing about the woes or temporary misfortunes of others.  Most of us have someone in media who is having hard luck or difficulties at the moment, and we read, not only for the information, but because it tells us that even the wealthy or the famous have difficulties in this life, and it helps to make our own lot in life seem more manageable. People like to see that even for those for which things appear to be going well, have challenges in life, and make mistakes.  Of course, this started as a German word, but has become incorporated into the English language now.  Certainly, this is why some people log on to follow the lives of Lindsay Lohan, or Kim Kardashian. It probably also motivates at least some royal watchers. It is probably the only real explanation for the foray into reality television !

             I will keep posting here, and eventually the blog will ignite.  I may have regular subscribers and I may not, but I encourage you, to write your own also.