Good Morning My Confidant!
I have made a decision.
I think it's a smart one.
I am not going to blog every day (actually, I've been blogging Monday thru Saturday). It has been powerful and valuable to me, even though I am fairly sure that out of nearly five thousand of my social media friends, only about 12 read my blog on any kind of regular basis. Less than that hit the "like" button and less than that comment.
NOT that that is the reason I've been blogging! No! I blog for me, and then if anyone gleans anything from my words, thoughts, essay, cool. If not, that is cool too. I may get a little radical from some people.
I also know that the average person who reads social media—most especially during the morning over coffee or....ah...something else—will...well....you know I will quote Jeff Goldblum as Michael in the movie The Big Chill....
"You can't write anything longer than it takes your average person to take an average crap.”
And I understand. I have been guilty of not reading a post because it was long. And my "Good Morning My Confidants" essays can be ten-minute reads (although they average two to four minutes). And when I am...ah...getting my morning going, and I am barely awake and maybe haven't had my coffee yet, a long post isn't what I gravitate to.
All that is okay!
My point...and I do have one...is that my essays often take me anywhere from and hour to two hours to write and I research, and I pour my heart and soul into the writing, and I could be writing my novel, which I haven't touched in well over a month...because I am writing essays instead. I am often done in by the time I finish, especially when I (usually) edit them and then find photos that are free to use to add to my posts, and link them to Facebook and other sources, etc, etc....
I then don't work on my novel. And my novels are also my heart. The are my creation. They are God expressing Its creative self through me. I love my stories and I love my characters.
AND they make me money and I really need to contribute to the household and my family.
I have gotten some tips through the tag that allows someone to "buy me a cup of coffee" and that has been sweet. But those don't help with the mortgage. royalties from a novel (or novels) does/do.
I am going to keep on blogging! It is a need. It is healing me. It is reviving my heart and soul and reinvesting me in life again. I cherish this blog, if others read it or not.
SO, my decision is to do the equivalent of blogging every other day—probably Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and working on my novels on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday—and I think it's a really smart idea. And both do feel my heart and soul.
In life we all have to make decisions. We make them every day. Some small, some huge. Ending my ten-year relationship with my first husband was a big decision. Alphabetizing the As and Bs of our CDs this morning was a small decision. Both were important and both were good decisions.
According to Psychology Today, "When making a decision, we form opinions and choose actions via mental processes which are influenced by biases, reason, emotions, and memories. The simple act of deciding supports the notion that we have free will. We weigh the benefits and costs of our choice, and then we cope with the consequences." *
I feel good about my decision, and I am ready for any consequences.
Now if at some point, the "right" person finds my blog and spreads the word and I suddenly have a million subscriptions and sponsors and the like, well that is different. But that isn't what is going on. I have sixty-four subscribers.
And that's okay! I am not writing my essays to make money! I am writing them to take my spiritual journey and to heal. And if 64 people are reading my blog (I think it is actually about 25 - 75 going by the icon that tells me how many people visit the essay each day), well that is amazing, and I am deeply blessed by that. I mean, that's a big, WOW! Makes me smile.
I have also learned through the business that it is very very rare for people to comment. I don't know why. They just don't. I am sure there are lots of reasons.
In life, people rarely comment, and more often than not, they aren't constructive comments, they're critical, and I don't mean the good kind of criticism, and who needs that??
So, thanks to all the people who do read my blog, that means a lot to me, I often ramble before I make my point and that is that way I want to write—train of thought and not some masterpiece essay—and I thank you for indulging me. If you don't already, think about commenting at my actual blog, or at least hitting the ❤️ button, and/or it would be really marvelous if you share any posting that you like over on to your platform. If you wish to, you have my permission, and if you do so, you have my heart-felt thanks. That gets my thoughts out there to more people and who knows who will be the "right" person who then finds my blog and spreads the word and suddenly I have a million subscriptions and sponsors?
So for now, the birds are singing and it is a gorgeous morning and dogs are cuddling and I have morning things I need to do and I hope this Friday is perfect for all who read these words and see my blessings to you.
Until next time....
Namasté,
BG "Gentle Ben" Thomas
* Decision-Making: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/decision-making