The Zen of Being One

I look at my blog occasionally, and ask myself the same questions. What part of you do you want to highlight on your blog? Photography? Writing? Parenthood? Business? Food? Random Thoughts? Then comes the “quality” of the posts. Should you just post to post? Should your posts be as near to perfect as they can be? How often? So many questions keep arising.

I’ve researched whether you should have a multi-topic blog, or stick to one thing. Arguments abound for both sides. I looked at starting a blog for each of my interests, but damn, it that a bunch of work or what? And here’s the crux of the matter… Analysis paralysis. A week goes by – no blogging. A month goes by – No blogging… You get the idea.

So, here it is. This blog is about me. I am an entrepreneur. I am a photographer. I am a writer. I am a father. I’m fanatical about the mountains. I’m slightly insane… well, maybe more than slightly. I love to eat. My sons are the pride and joy of my life.

This immediately begs the question – is this blog nothing but an exercise in narcissism?allaboutme What a great question, and embedded in that question is another – Why blog? In many of the pursuits that I am involved in, blogging is touted as something that you must do. If you are a company founder, you should blog to attract traffic to your site, even before your site is live. If you are a writer, then you need to be working on your “author platform,” of which nearly every expert claims blogging is a huge part. Plus, of course, “a writer should write.” If you are a photographer, then you better have a photo blog or no one will ever find your work. The tread that runs through all of this is customers, or maybe more accurately, money.

However, there is more to it. Blogging is often tied to an interest, and hence, the advice to have a single-topic, focused blog. Then you can gather readers that are also interested in that same topic. In many ways, blogging can become a community activity. It is a method to create connections with others, and is more than a 144 character blurb about you and your interest. It has depth and more meaningful interactions with those who share your interest.

Honestly, there is some part of blogging that is about all of those things.  It is about the connections, a bit about the customers and money, with a little sprinkling of narcissistic satisfaction. At the end of the day, I want to blog, I probably need to be blogging, and I am exhausted by the advice and ideas of experts about how one should be blogging.

Right now, I am in the middle of launching a new company. I love photography, and having it set up as a business provides a little side income, and great tax benefits. I am also about to take the plunge and hire an editor and cover artist for my book. I didn’t get it published going the “traditional” route, so I am going indie. If I could, I’d hike every other day.

So, I am relaunching my blogging activity with a focus on blogging to blog for the reasons that I want to blog. I’d love for you to connect with me and interact on those things for which we have a common interest. I hope you enjoy reading about my hikes, my kids, the challenges that I face as an entrepreneur, and the tales that I plan to share about the novel that I am going to publish. Feel free to buy a photo if you like. I’d also love for you to sign up for my company when it launches, if you need what I am selling. And I hope you read my book when it is published.

Ultimately, this blog is mine, and perhaps this post is simply my announcement and proclamation to myself to simply get blogging.

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