This week I had the pleasure of attending a training by a marketing person that I admire and respect. The topic was blogging.
A good blog is timely, is 300 – 500 words, uses numbers, has a great title… I listened and everything she said made sense with respect to getting “eyeballs”, which is the objective of marketing.
It made me realize that my “blog” is quite IMPERFECT.
My posts are
too long
typically lack any numbers
lack graphics and pictures
sometimes fail to come to any conclusion
It made me smile. I am tempted to write shorter posts. I am tempted to figure out the few steps to harmony. But, I just can’t do it.
Perhaps it is because I am not after “eyeballs”…
I seek curious minds…
I seek empathetic hearts…
I seek exploring souls…
I seek students of life…
I love that Ayn Rand refused to make her novels shorter – much to the chagrin of many publishers that refused to publish her works. Her novels closing in on 1,000 pages were NOT the successful formula. Books that sell need to be 300 pages! She refused.
Her novels where the first to sell more and more copies every year after they were published. Most novels sell the most very early in their lifespan and then slow down over time. Her novels sold more 10 and 20 years after they were written than they did the first and second year after publishing! She became known – not so much for being an “author”, which she certainly was, but for being a thinker and a philosopher.
She didn’t attract the initial “eyeballs” but she engaged the brains of those that took the time to read her work, and over time they spread the word.
Even now, there are many that have not read her books, but there are many millions that not only have read them, but that adore her and follow her, long after her death.
She understood that she wasn’t publishing books… she was conveying an idea… she was sharing her values. And, she was not after “selling books”, she was after “engaging minds”.
I don’t mean to compare myself to Ms. Rand. I have the utmost respect for her work and her life. While I don’t agree with everything she said, I love many things that she did say. I share many of her values. More than anything I admire the clarity of her thought and her commitment to authenticity – and her passion for and believe in mankind.
BACK TO BLOGGING
I even hate calling my posts “a blog”, because it creates a connotation that is unnecessary.
BREVITY
I love brevity. I aspire to brevity. But who says brevity needs to be 300 – 500 words? I am conveying thoughts that I have massaged, refined, and overturned for 47 years 2 – 3 pages at a time. To me, 3 pages is fairly damn brief ;-)
1, 2, 3… phylosoPHY!
I am a fan of lists. It is hard for me not to click on the “The 3 things you need to do to live a happy life” blog. But, I am exhausted and frustrated by the thousands of “blogs” and articles that try to convey the meaning of life in 3 easy steps. If it was REALLY achievable in 3 steps, wouldn’t we all be happy? There are plenty of lists out there – and you are free to peruse them all. My posts are not a recipe, but a philosophy. Happiness is not a formula but a discipline.
IT AINT EASY
Mosts articles and blogs want to “make it easier”. They want to simplify the overwhelming. And, I am certainly attempting that in my own way. But, NOT FOR AN INSTANT DO I EVER WANT TO PREACH THAT HAPPINESS OR SUCCESS IS EASY. We all know that it is NOT. It is NOT easy. My goal is to help you (and myself) remember that it is not easy, but that it is not only POSSIBLE, but that it is RIGHT WITHIN OUR REACH. Not easy… but ours to control, to own, and to master.
A CONVERSATION not a blog
To me, my posts, are meant to be a conversation, not a brochure. All of my posts are meant to be pieces of a puzzle, dimensions of a sculpture, perspectives of mindset. They build on each other and off each other. Much like a good friend or lover – great relationships and insights are gained through conversation not through the sticker on the back of a car.
EXPLORATION
Life’s journey to me is an adventure. I like the tagline, “Never Stop Exploring”. To me, a lot of the articles and posts that I see try to conclude. The gist of the message is “This is all you need!”. That to me is the very opposite of the message that I want to send. I want my thoughts to engage you in additional thought. I want my questions and answers to beget more questions and answers… The day we stop exploring, we stop learning, and we start dying. My goal is not give you the answer, but to share my journey and my discovery – so that you can see your own journey more clearly.
Mine is an imperfect blog… in the attempt to share an authentic life… in the hope of engaging not your eyes, but your mind and along with it, your heart.
A friend of mine recently said to me, you need to make your posts shorter. You should summarize them in the beginning. And, I get why that would make it easier. I would like to help people digest my message.
Right now, it would slow me down, and I’d rather share the evolution of my thoughts with grammatical errors, than keep them to myself until they are “cleaned up”. I realize that it makes me seem harried at times, and possibly lazy… but know that it is out of the desire to share it with you as it flows. Eventually, I do hope to clean it up.
Lastly, the day I left Procter and Gamble, I wrote a poem. The key verse read…
I am the author
Life is my book
My only work of art
My writing is my “art” to the extent I have any “artist” in me…
I don’t play the guitar.
I was horrible at the French Horn.
I can’t draw.
These posts, these ideas, this mindset, this philosophy is my art, and life is my canvas.
I am so grateful for those of you who choose to pause, who choose to think, who choose to engage… you make my art worthy…
Harmony happens in every moment
We must understand our absolute truth
And then work in every moment to move our truth to the reality that we seek
It is YOU, who make my imperfect blog… and the moments spent writing it... perfect!
Yours in harmony,
Nestor