![[ C ] Marc Chagall - Scene de Cirque (1958)](https://i0.wp.com/www.thejackb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/_c__marc_chagall___scene_de_cirque_1958.jpg)
And I’m a man of great experience
I know you got another man
But I can love you better than him
Take my hand, don’t be afraid
I’m wanna prove every word I say
I’m advertisin’ love for free
So, you can place your ad with me”
Hard to Handle- Otis Redding
Don’t let the Otis Redding quote throw you because my pal Otis fits into this post perfectly. He works regardless of whether you think blogging has to have a point or not and that is because the best bloggers are storytellers.
I firmly believe it to be true which is why you can find The Best Bloggers Are Storytellers Part 2 and part one as being among some of my favorite posts.
Take A Deep Breath and Keep Reading
Yeah, I know there is a lot going on here but I have faith in your ability to follow the thread and am confident that your critical reasoning skills are strong, even at this late hour.
Johnny Cash is one of my favorite artists for a long list of reasons, but much of it is centered on his story. His story intrigues me as do the tales he tells in his songs. There is feeling, there is emotion, there is movement.
He doesn’t have what you would call a pure voice. You wouldn’t find him doing the same sort of music that you catch Josh Groban, Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble doing. His voice wasn’t silky smooth, there was an edge.
I like the edge.
Maybe it is because I have one or maybe it is because to me it helps add something extra to the stories.
If Johnny Cash Were A Blogger
Johnny Cash would be a better blogger than Barry Manilow. Â Ok, that is subjective but I like Johnny’s stories better.
If you ask me for my advice I will probably never suggest you try being all things to all people. You can’t make everyone happy and doing so will only make someone sad, probably you.
This wacky world we call the blogosphere is littered with the wreckage of bloggers that failed. Some had early success and flamed out and others just never hung on long enough to get to the place where they felt comfortable.
And that ties into Johnny for me and why I like him.
I see him as someone who understood he was flawed and who figured out how to be ok with that. I don’t know that to be true. I didn’t read it in a book or see it anywhere I can cite with authority.
It is my perception.
Perception is Reality Here
Perception is reality here and in the real world, at least it is for many people.
But what I am talking about isn’t how others perceive you, but how you perceive yourself. I am talking about your personal self image. I am talking about when then lights go out and you are alone with your thoughts, what do you see.
Your perception of who you are impacts your life. How you think of yourself has a direct connection with so many things.
I relate to Johnny. His stories resonate with me.
It is not a complete match. There are things that I can’t relate at all too, but that is ok.
You and Your Readers
Here is how it all ties together, or at least how I see it. One of the tricks to building a successful blog is building a community and creating a connection between you and your readers.
Johnny’s music caught me a long time ago and now he is one of my go to guys.
That is the sort of thing you want to create and build for your blog. If you can do that, good things will come from it.
What do you think?
I don’t know much about Johnny Cash but thanks to you for introducing Johnny’s creative insights quite nicely. I’m inspired by your creative writing and I just wanted to say as a new blogger I’ve found this post very educative. There are lots of different types articles needed to publish on my blog to impress new visitors everyday and I’ve found some good points to impress my visitors through brilliant writing reading this excellent post. Thanks. 🙂
Hi Terry,
My apologies for the delayed response, been a busy week. The most important piece of unsolicited advice I will pass along is the importance of having fun.
Have fun with blogging and everything else falls into place.
Being able to capture other people with your stories is what makes you a great blogger. I’m definitely on board with you regarding how great bloggers are one of the best storytellers. These kinds of bloggers don’t need to have pop ups telling their readers to follow them, like or something like that. They just have to weave something out and they’re readers will eat them up like there’s no tomorrow!
” I am talking about when then lights go out and you are alone with your thoughts, what do you see.”
It really is a challenge to get my thoughts (yes, I like my thoughts and who I am) out of my head and down on “paper” without filtering them to make myself seem “better” than I really am. Sometimes it’s scary because I’ve noticed that I really do care to control others’ perception of who I am, and I can’t!
It’s a very shallow experience to write unless you write enough that you finally have to share your soul – the place where few will ever understand even if they read the words. The place where you and God sit together.
That is a very good place to be. 🙂
I know the feeling. It’s easy to start filtering our thoughts so that the edited version makes us look like we sometimes hope to appear and not as we are.
If I had known, I would have sat down to this post with a double of Johnnie Walker blue.
Well said, sir. Cheers!
Johnny Walker Blue is an excellent choice. You have great taste.