Most of my friends have an online presence. In my mind, anyone who goes to the trouble of creating such a work deserves to have it looked at. When I get something like a friend request on Facebook, or a follow notification on Twitter (or Foursquare), I go look that person up. If they have a blog I go read some of it. If I like it, I subscribe to it. I read their profiles on places like Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, Yelp and Google.
While perusing a profile of someone I had recently established online communication with I saw that she had participated in National Blog Posting Month, AKA NaBloPoMo. It was mid-December and the topic for January was "Friends." Friends are one of my most valued assets in life. I knew writing 30 essays on friends would be a big challenge, but if you know me, you know that I'm the kind of guy who will answer a challenge.
You can check out the national blog posting month website at http://www.nablopomo.com/
I have to say this about it though, the organization did not provide me with much in the way of support or motivation. In fact I was quite deflated by the absence of support and motivation. The existence of the website is nothing but a figurehead to solidify my commitment to the act. There was something else that I did every single day in January, and that was to take a photograph and post it online. The impetus for that was a request from an online friend. You can see the 31 pictures I took here, and you can meet the person who issued the challenge here.
It was a whole lot easier to take 31 pictures and post them than it was to write 31 articles on friends and friendship. The experience gave me many new insights into what friendship is to me, and what it is to my friends. I experienced many feelings as a result. Sadness over friendship lost. Anger over judgments made against me, and friendships lost as a result. Joy over the value of friendship. Delight at the seeming admiration of some of my friends. Disappointment at the seeming disdain of others. I was enlightened by the way I had to examine friendship, and frequently awakened by the discoveries I made. I struggled with subject matter and how to preserve the privacy and anonymity of my friends. Finding ways to present the myriad feelings without exposing their foibles or throwing them under the bus in front of everyone.
In the end I decided that it is what it is and no amount of sugar coating would ever change that. So I wrote the truth, I gave you my opinions; my insights; my feelings; and above all my candor.
I know some of the things I wrote would have angered some of you (had you made the effort to read them). I was and still am prepared to lose some friendships over having done this. If that happens, I won't feel good about it, but that is life.
Some of these articles have been pretty decent, some have been crap. Almost all have been a struggle to to write. Just finding topics has been a chore. I know my treatment of some of the subject matter has been questionable, or revealing, or just plain whack.
Most valuable lesson learned
I really like having lots of friends. I wish I had more. Of the ones I do have, I wish we were closer.
Most unexpected lesson learned
Doing anything every single day is hard! Especially if it's writing! Here's the thing, I begin every day by writing anyway. Yelp reviews, message board posts, Facebook posts, Twitter posts, Instructables...the list goes on and on. I have long believed that the best way to start your day is to do something creative. Writing is something that comes naturally to me and I enjoy it. It's an easy way to kickstart the brain. So you can imagine how surprised I was as I sat there each day drawing a complete blank.
I suddenly have a much greater appreciation for my friends who are professional writers. My admiration for you has increased tenfold...and I now wish we were much closer friends. You know who you are.
Will I do it again?
Maybe. It depends on the subject matter and the reason. Just as my epic mountain biking trips improve my riding, this literary marathon has improved my writing. Some of you know I have several concepts for novels. I've even laid extensive groundwork for a few of them. this experience has moved me closer to completing at least one of them. Even more of you know that I am pretty good at writing instructions on how to do things. Many of you have seen my work at Instructables. I think this effort has taken me to a new level and I am finally ready to finish a major work.
If I do, you my friends, will be the first to know!
If you want to see any of the older work on this blog, just click on the blog title at the top and you can go all the way back to the very beginning.
Thanks for looking. Stay tuned because this was my blog before NaBloPoMo and it continues to be now that it's over. I now return you to our regularly scheduled programming...more videos!
No comments:
Post a Comment