Unraveling My Blog and Me

It's all about the dialogue.

I've gotten so fond of writing poems from prompts in the past few months that I realize I probably don't write enough about myself to either let new readers get to know me or maintain close ties with old ones. My blog used to (quite literally) be "Sue's News, Views and Muse," but lately it's pretty much Muse.  While nary a one of my followers has complained, I suspect most have noticed...and my readership and comments are down, which is probably not a coincidence. After all, the perusal of poetry isn't everyone's favorite pastime.

The thing is, after writing so many posts about family, friends, spiritual experiences, church activities, politics, music, books, television shows and the like, I began to feel as if I were just recycling the same information over and over again in slightly varying formats. Having blogged since 2008, I was ready for a new slant. It came as a relief not feeling like I had to take pictures of everything my family and I did, record every single interesting/enlightening thing that came to mind, review whatever media mattered to me, or express and defend opinions on the prevailing social and political climate. In short, I got lazy! The relative ease of simply responding to writer's memes appealed to me more and more.

That said, here's the crux of my problem: I now find myself getting bored with this steady diet of memes, too! I've even wondered if it's time to hang up my hat here and revert to doing my writing in "real life" only. After all, I haven't put out a new book since 2004. What's more, my new church assignment is to write articles for our stake public relations committee; I have recurring opportunities to create scripted programs for church; family and friends still request plenty of wedding and birthday poems, and I should get back to journaling anyway––so I would have lots of ways to exercise my writing muscles in the future, with or without blogging. What I wouldn't have, of course, is that inimitable feeling of communicating with bloggers who relate to me and I to them. I would miss all of my longstanding friends and the comments we exchange. I would crave the immediacy of sitting down to express myself and knowing there are people out there who are ready and willing to listen...and equally important, to respond.

The upshot of all this deliberation is that I've decided to go on, change things up a bit with my subject matter, and continue the dialogue. That's right, the dialogue. Hey, if I want to carry on a one-sided conversation, I can have it with myself, right? So come out, come out, wherever you are! If you read something you like, comment. When you read something you don't like, speak up. Nothin' but bored? Say so! For me, it's about the interplay...the give and take...the conversation. That's what blogging gives me that other arenas do not. That's what makes me a better and more satisfied writer. And that is what I hope will be happening more often on this blog.

Thanks for hearing me out. I'd like to return the favor.

=)

PS. If you are a long-time reader, I would love to know your thoughts about all of this. Had you noticed I was meme-ing a lot? Are you sick of poetry, poetry, and more poetry? Was my blog beginning to look the way it has been feeling to me...like a big, blue-and-yellow, one-trick pony? 

Let's keep those lines of communication open!

PS. I'm recharging my blogging batteries.

for more T posts, click below

(More of a blog hop than a meme.)