I was talking with one of my good friends Roshanda about our respective blogs the other day. While Roe writes about a completely different subject matter [fair trade, handmade crafts and clothing] than I do, we were empathizing over the general difficulty of the whole blogging process. I told her that no matter how much I write, I always feel like I’m blogging my ass off and I’m still always behind. She sort of felt the same way and responded with something that resonated with me:
You know, blogging takes considerable ass power
Yes it does.
Yes, blogging is hard and yes, I’m constantly falling behind. I get distracted, I don’t plan ahead, I run out of ideas and sometimes my posts bomb, but you know what? It’s worth it.
Yes, blogging does take considerable ass power, but so does everything else that’s worthwhile doing. I have to keep reminding myself that this whole triathlon thing hasn’t been a walk in the park either. It’s been hard. And you know what? It’s going to get a lot harder. But it’s something I’m passionate about, it’s something I want to do and it’s something that I enjoy so why not spend my energy on that?
Here’s something I’m learning. Just because you love what you’re doing, doesn’t mean doing it will be easy. In fact, it’s usually pretty freaking hard.
But that’s exactly why you have to do it. If it really is freaking hard and requires considerable ass power, chances are most people aren’t doing it. They can’t get past the looming impossibility of the situation. That’s why most people don’t do great things.
However, if you can see the potential and are willing to work to propel yourself down that path, your options are limitless.
All it takes is a considerable amount of ass power.
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[Photo Credit: Miqul]
Joel – do you really want us commenting on your ass power? Your future chidlren and grandchildren will read this one day (in an ipad 10.0 luc library or something …..) nice post 🙂
Haha, I debated posting it, but went ahead anyways cause:
1. It was such a funny comment
2. It was so true.
The grandchildren part? That’s probably true (especially the ipad library part) but they can deal with it. I’m hoping I’l end up being the super awesome grandpa that’s just a little crazy. I think that’d be awesome =)
(laughs) You were complaining prematurely! You’re work has paid off so well for you. I say it’s because everyone can catch a vision in the goals you’re setting for yourself.
Sometimes I wonder if all of what I do is a virtual way to stroke my ego–a way to get a few more comments that I will stop at nothing to get in order to pet my quaky self-esteem. My topics feel always “off”, “ill-fitting”, and late but I spend hours on the internet trying to put them up when I know I’d much rather be outside experiencing my “real” life. (I bitch and complain and threaten to just go back to xanga).
But then I create something or realize a blind spot in our mainstream culture and I feel like I should tell someone.
The act of doing what I love outside of the technological universe brings me so much joy that its there that it hits home to me: sharing passions on shared space benefits everyone, if only in a little way. You doing what you love allows others to do what they love or learn something new. The comments only keep you from quitting.
It is both labor and partnership.
I think there’s a lot you can share with people by diving into your interests and passions and learning principles and truths from that experience.
The trick is learning how to share them in a universal way so that everyone can get something out of it, even if they don’t necessarily share the same interests.
[p.s. thanks for the inspiration]
I think loving what you do makes the hard work seem easier. Not liking/loving what you’re doing makes it hard to sustain doing that activity for long periods of time.
It’s like running. If I hated running, I wouldn’t be able to survive a marathon. And you bet I’m going to love tri-training. Actually, I already do.
There IS one thing I will say about blogging though: do not let the number of comments dictate how you feel about your post. If you put effort into it, if you put thought and the Joel you are into your writing, that’s something of worth. The number of comments, just like the number on the scale, shouldn’t mean too much 🙂
I totally agree Jess. I LOVE comments, don’t get me wrong, but I know that, like you said, If I’m putting the effort into it, that’s something of worth, independent of whether I get 100 comments or none [although getting lots of comments does make me feel validated, haha]. Do good work and the numbers and comments will come…
As for loving what you do, you’re right. It doesn’t make it EASY, but it definitely makes it EASIER. You still gotta put in the hard work, but at least it’s something you’re pursuing rather than a chore.
“If it really is freaking hard and requires considerable ass power, chances are most people aren’t doing it” . . . this reminds me of a quote (not sure where it’s from) that I use with my percussion students. “If you’ll do now what other people WON’T do, you be able to do (for the rest of your life) what other people CAN’T do.”
Dig the posts, man- keep ’em coming!
Love that quote Mark. I’m glad you’re digging the blog. I’m a big fan of PP [plus I can’t stand how good you are at drums. It makes me angry and jealous – in a good way, of course]. Someday I’m hoping for coordination 🙂