It has been an awesome turbo-charged ride posting daily here at Family Love Does More this past month. Prior to posting daily I was, whatever. No really, it was whatever or whenever which was more like a ride on a pink bike with a basket on the handles. Two different experiences.
Why turbo-charge my experience as a blogger? It has less to do with blogging advice and more to do with how I approach life, how our family approaches life.
Life Lesson 1: Be the man in the arena.
With abundant and often conflicting blogging advice everywhere, there is the temptation to get overwhelmed, to doubt, to worry about things that don’t matter as much as the simple act of engaging to the best of one’s ability. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers, the critics, the cold, or the timid.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
Life Lesson 2: When you are kind to people, people are kind to you.
Posting daily is a terrific way to contribute to the blogging community and start conversations. Once the post is published, it’s easy to check WordPress Reader to make sure the post is included. Then it’s time to read other bloggers’ posts, like, comment, engage. Many bloggers will return the favor. Those who do are gold.
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ Philo
Life Lesson 3: When learning or starting something new, go all in.
When anyone in my family is new to something (or someone), be it parenting a newborn, playing baseball, craft beer, Twitter, or blogging, motivation and interest are high up front. This is the ideal time to pour extra time and energy into the current passion. Practice, practice, practice! Mastering something new is incredibly rewarding.
Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives. ~ Tony Robbins
Some day I may go back to the pretty pink bike with the basket of flowers style of blogging, but for now, I’m enjoying my turbo-charged ride.
Do you or have you ever blogged daily? Why or why not? What helps you to enjoy blogging? What life lessons ground you and/or your blog?
All the best ~~~~~~~~ Angie Mc
I guess we all are as different in our styles of blogging as we are as individuals. I’ve been blogging for almost a year and a half now and I’ve just this week agreed to accept a five day in a row challenge. I’m on day four and I have to say I don’t like it, Angie, the posting every day. But vive la difference! There is no right or wrong way to do it. Have fun!
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Exactly, Barbara! I think it’s terrific to try different ways, different styles, until we find something that works well, brings joy, is a good fit. Then, there is always inevitable change 😀 I’m popping over to your place right now…
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Your lessons are ones for us all. I only blog weekly or every other week. I can’t visit blogs daily either, not with as many as I follow, so I think that makes a nice balance.
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As I get to know more bloggers and like more bloggers I can see choosing a similar pattern. I’m just really enjoying this stage of blogging! I’m learning so much about blogging, about life, and meeting wonderful people along the way. Thanks, Carrie!
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Whatever floats your blogging boat is my motto. 🙂
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Exactly! So many styles done well – impressive.
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Great lessons. Fabulous quotes.
I’ve been blogging more lately. I’m actually enjoying my WordPress community more than ever. I think I had a great group to begin with, but I’ve found so many more in the last few months!
🙂
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Thank you and I agree! It’s energizing to see friendly faces in the comments section of different blogs. Terrific gatherings 😀
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I’m getting this quote tattood on my back… ha!
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With angel wings?! SNORT!
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Ok, in all blogger seriousness… As a new blogger, I’m still learning the ropes. So far, its been fun, and I’m enjoying the feedback. I can’t imagine that I will blog everyday…I simply have to much to do! (ok I think that’s pretty good, I got to third line before the snarkiness kicked in)
I do feel that I’d like my blog to be a good mix of truthful, genuine content and light and easy “stuff” kind of a Heinz 57 of blogging.
Love the life lessons…now I’m off to wipe the dust, sweat & blood off.
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The biggest key to happiness may be to surround yourself with truthful, hopeful, kind people. <- hey, lookie there, Life Lesson 4 😀
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Great Post Angie. I post at least three times a week, that is my goal since August, 2012 and it’s worked. My trouble is staying up with everyone’s posts, but I manage the best I can.
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You do a great job posting and keeping up with others, Mary. I love seeing you here, there. I also do what I can, when I can. That’s part of keeping blogging from becoming a chore for me.
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Great post 🙂 Similar with you, I would only post before when I feel like it and I didn’t even post in a consistent schedule.
Before I started to blog daily, I was not reallysure that I would have the capability to pull it off, especially due to the nature of my blog.
Though once I started to post daily, I realize that it’s actually quite fun.
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Right, AB?! There is the challenge of the learning curve and some creative problem solving involved. Good stuff! And I’m really enjoying your blog, as you know 😀
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I am still riding my pink bike. I love the lessons you have outlined, especially about being kind. As I age I realize how important it is to be kind. In fact, some of the darker times in my life were made bearable because someone was kind to me. And it is now that I am realizing how important those episodes in my life were. One problem, or blessing, I have is the amount of reader interaction I have on each of my posts. Both on WP and Facebook. I feel every comment should have a thoughtful and meaningfull response. Sometimes this is a simple thank you and sometimes, most times, this requires a longer, sometimes funnier, heartfelt response. This takes time but for me the conversation around the post is as important as the post. Right now I couldn’t do this every day and the people that do I am in awe of.
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I’m with you, John. Each and every comment matters to me. Commenting at other blogs matters to me too. All of this takes time and, for me, practice. Up front, I would get lost in the swirl of activity. I’m still learning. For example, when I’m at another blog and leave a comment and want to follow the rest of the comments, I need to remember to check that little box but dang it, 90% of the time I hit “comment” and…I didn’t check the box. I sometimes wonder if I’m especially ill equipped or if this all really does take time and practice. As for the comments you leave and the comment threads at your place – the best! Stop being so darn clever and your interactions will drop 😉
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Hahaha. After every comment I’ll respond with “please fuck off” and we’ll see what happens. Your comment responses are really impressive as well.
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That should do it but it might not fit with that whole kindness roll you’re one 😀 Thanks for the feedback. Sometimes I feel more at ease writing comments than I do writing posts. Hmmmm, I’ll have to think about that a bit more.
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Please fuck off.
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Hahahaha. Who am I kidding. I can’t be that horrible. Please disregard that last comment.
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Did you notice I didn’t “like” that last comment. I showed you! So there!
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Hahaha. You sure did. I’ll be liking my wounds for a few days.
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Well, that’s about as horrible as I get. I hope you can handle it 😀 Sweet dreams and good night ❤
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I can. Night.
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I tried blogging daily for a month when I did the A to Z Challenge, but I found I was spending way too much time blogging, as well as reading my many, many favorite blogs, and trying to read books for review. It was taking over my life.
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What’s nice about having the experience of blogging daily is that we know first hand what it takes, what it feels like. It can easily take over life! Not something I need or want long-term for sure.
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If am on a roll I post on both of my blogs once per week. If I tried posting every day, it would be a mess. Plus, I would have no time to read other blogs. Is that what you want?
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That’s the question! I met a blogger who has an extremely popular blog. She had a blog post go viral and…well, that’s another story. But when I look at the blog there is something missing. She literally replies to no comments and I’ve never seen her at any other blog. While I support her right to choose that route and she surely has proven to be a better blogger than I am according to every objective standard, that isn’t what I want. While it may be right for her, it isn’t right for me. For now, blogging daily is helping me to figure out what I do want!
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Yeah, I follow some bloggers like that too. If you’re going to be aloof, you’d better be good. I figure I’d better try not to be too aloof.
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Big smile 😀 For better or worse I don’t have the luxury of being aloof!
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Good Morning, Angie. Interesting idea, this blogging every day. I started doing that about 8 months ago, at least almost every day. It gets more difficult to keep up as you get more followers. I think of the comment section as pure gold, and spend a lot of time there. That has preempted my own posts sometimes, and that’s ok. I get great inspiration from other writers; there are times I could almost compose a post as a comment, if the topic interests me. I follow others with deliberate intent, so I feel a sense of loyalty, and read everything WP will let me see !! I have a backup of writing prompts, but I’ll get to them as I feel the urge; and that most likely will not be daily. Enjoy this holiday weekend. ☺ Van
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You make it all look easy, Van. Like a pitcher who throws a beautiful fast ball or a singer who enthralls me with her song. It looks or sounds easy, but there is a lot of life work, talent, and character at the foundation. Another life lesson, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. You and your blog are just terrific!
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What a sweet compliment. Thanks so much, Angie. I find my best stuff is when I just free-flow on a topic. Sometimes I go back and look at old stuff, and don’t even remember saying half of it. Brain to keyboard connection maybe…I feel like a bystander ! I’m grateful to be inspired by folks like you. Thank you for that. ❤ Van
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Free flow…yes, that! Being inclined to problem-solving my way through life, it’s really important to me to practice letting this blog, and life, unfold…free flow. While big ideas will take over my brain, the translation to keyboard can be a bit bumpy, lol! Some day 😀 And you’re welcome and thank you, Van ❤
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There are some days, Angie, that I don’t have anything to say (can you believe that?) … But those are the days that I’m subconsciously or unconsciously kicking future posts around in my head. Or I’m keeping my eyes and ears open for a post to hit me on the head, or for someone (usually my lovely partner MG) to tell me, “That’s a blog post” or “You could write about that.”) Some posts take days or weeks to develop, so there’s that, too. I’ve never once contemplated giving it up, though. It keeps me going, creatively. As does good craft beer, but you know that already!
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These are important points, Jim. The mystery and fun of inspiration. The mental processing. Developing quality posts. In a way, I’m really hoping that my increase in quantity will lead me to quality! I love your emphasis on the creative aspects of blogging…on life! Cheers 😀
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I so embrace #2!
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Why yes you do! And kind people find kind people 😀
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It still surprises me that people still think that yelling, screaming and being verbally abusive produces results.
#2 seems almost common sense. Ah yes that’s it, common sense isn’t that common!
🙂
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Common courtesy, yes! Isn’t life challenging enough without piling on needless unkindness? Yes again 😀
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love this and all the quotes in it!! That’s wonderful you are on turbo-charge! I have been pretty consistent but have lately been feeling more pink bicycle 🙂 I guess that’s how it goes. We just need to listen to ourselves and do what feels right at the time.
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You’re right, Jill. I wonder about how a blog’s posting rhythm affects the over all feel of the blog, too. For example, your blog is so welcoming and cozy, so pink bike posting fits nicely. My blog is about “more” so daily posts seem to fit. At least for now…or until I collapse from sheer exhaustion 😉 Happy long weekend!
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yea, I don’t either. I think consistency is probably key whether is once a month or every day. I love how your blog is so genuine and conversational so everyday hopefully will not exhaust you too much 🙂 Happy long weekend to you, too!
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My family appreciates that I’m putting some of my conversation toward my blog and not toward them 😉 Thanks so much for the compliment ❤
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bah ha!!
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Goodness, you’re on a roll, sweet Angie!
I started blogging back in 06 (wowee time flies!). I was very sporadic at first, but between roughly 08-12, I posted every day. What has been interesting to me is the way bloggers have come and gone in that time span. MANY people dropped blogging when FB got big, and I lost a lot of friends who used to visit my blog. While I have a FB account, I don’t get there much and just don’t seem to get it. FB feels more random to me somehow, like people racing down the halls at school and shouting things into open doorways as they blow past. Blogging seems to be a bit more thoughtful, like you put more of yourself into it, less “spewing” if you will.
I’m not as regular at blogging as I used to be, but I do seem to be more busy in my off-line life, what with homeschool and stuff. Having a regular “feature” like the Friday Funnies helps keep me connected to blogging.
I can say though, that if you want to keep up with comments but forget to check that box thing, you can always subscribe to comments of all the blogs you follow in a reader like InoReader. Many blogs have comment RSS in addition to post RSS, so you will always have the latest of everyone you follow. Unless you accidentally hit “mark all as read” by mistake. Um, don’t ask me how I know this! LOL
For the record, I think you’re doing great at this blogging thing, just keep on being you – that’s why people come around. 🙂 ❤
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I’ve missed you, Ness! WOW, I knew you blogged for a long time but WOW, good for you! Yep, we both agree about FB. Isn’t it great that everyone can find a media that fits their needs? And I’m sorry about your early blogging friends who have moved. But new friends are here 😀
Guess what? My Feedly was messed up and you and Dane weren’t in there. I think I blew it when I deleted a list that I thought was redundant with “Must Read.” Anyway, you’re both in Must Read now. And…DUH on me! Thanks for mentioning the comments RSS at Feedly! I’ve just ignored the option…until now 😀 Thanks, always for having my back.
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A must read … Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~> That was certainly a good point.. I couldn’t agree more with it… Love & best wishes, dear Angie. Aquileana 😀
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I love the pace of your blog, Aquileana. I especially love how you create beautiful and meaningful content while also connecting with others through your comment section, awards, and visiting the blogs of others. You are the best!
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Woot! You are the best ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
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Whoop whoop! 😀
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This was spot on! Love it ❤️ Cheers 😘
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Thanks and cheers, Keisha!
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