What is the difference between being weird in a good way and weird in a bad one? I don’t claim to have the correct answer but I am sure it lies in whether people think you are charming or creepy.
Sometimes I think the most significant difference is that creepy people don’t recognize they are creepy and charming people know they aren’t creepy or something like that.
Forgive me if  this doesn’t make as much sense as it could because it is 1 AM and this stream of consciousness and I am frustrated.
Frustrated because things were harder today than they should have been. Things that should have been a snap required a snap, click and a jump and much of the day felt like I was walking waist deep through mud.
It is Hard To Be Productive
It is hard to be productive when you are walking through mud but if you stay with it you usually find that you still manage to get things done.
My children often hear me say the difference between success and failure isn’t always about who is smartest or luckiest but who is willing to do the work to make things happen. They also hear me talk about working smarter and not harder.
I spent 25 minutes trying to put an excerpt of a poem on Canva today so that I would have a cool graphic people could share but it just didn’t work.
“Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
Ulysses, Lord Alfred Tennyson
How To Be Memorable
I come up with different headlines because I want my posts to be read and to be memorable. Sometimes I pose questions like Who is Tougher Mr. Spock or Darth Vader because I think people will remember them and because I am interested in thinking about it.
Writers have to think about many different things and we have to be able to be like the Apple people and think differently. Cue thought bubble about the difference between charming and creepy.
Cue second thought bubble about trying to make sure our stuff is read and self promotion. Cue third thought bubble asking how to identify our best material.
I think about this often. When people first stumble onto the blog what do I want them to see? What posts will do the best job of encouraging people to become regular readers? What will be most interesting to them?
Friday I wrote What Makes You A Man?
The social media gurus would frown upon it because it is longer but I am really proud of it. I haven’t decided if it is a new favorite because I think the writing is strong or because I feel like I shared something meaningful.
But I know for certain I want it to be read. It is important to me. It unintentionally touched a nerve and I have been thinking about it ever since.
Would People Notice If I Was Gone?
I rarely think about this, but today I began to wonder what would happen if I stopped blogging. Would people notice? Would they care or would they just move on?
That is not a cry for help or a request for praise. It is more of a moment of self evaluation. It is me thinking out loud and asking if my content makes a difference. Is it helping anyone or am I just indulging my love for writing in a public forum.
And if I am indulging does it matter? I am not holding a gun to anyone’s head.
Speaking of memory there is another poem to share:
“But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mineâ€
If You Forget Me by Pablo Neruda
What Kind Of Blogger Are You?
I am a writer who is a father. That means sometimes I write about parenting (dad blogging stuff) and sometimes I write about writing. Writing about writing covers storytelling, marketing and social media. Sometimes it covers blogging too.
That is an incomplete description but the time has come for the vampire to find his coffin and catch some ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
I appreciate your taking the time to walk with me.
What kind of blogger are you and what kind of content would you like to see here?
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