Seth Godin had an interesting post the other week about the internet as envy amplifier.
It’s a timely reminder about the need to caw canny* with what and how you read online, including the cumulative effect.
I think the same thing can happen if we consume too many blogs too fast.
Sometimes I think I’m drowning in messages to:
- grow!
- blossom!
- serve!
- sparkle!
- dream!
- dream bigger!
- step out! step up! step in!
- shine!
- ship!
- leap!
- jump!
- jump higher!
It makes me feel exhausted.
I understand the impulse to write those messages, and I have a deep admiration and respect for the people who are sharing them.
Indeed I have probably written and shared some of those messages myself.
But still, there is something about the cumulative effect as a reader that we need to be aware of.
Because our actions, intentions, shifts, growth, and indeed little bits of blossoming can look small, and insignificant by comparison.
(Which is back to the envy amplification.)
All of which demands sensible self care: some time offline, some different reading material, some time walking outside and remembering how the world really is - which is not stuck in some kind of eternal spring (however lovely it might be just now) but is also fading, and getting eaten, and dying, and hunkering down.
Which also makes me wonder though if it wasn’t time for us, collectively, as writers and publishers and encouragers of the creative impulse, to allow more subtle messages.
Unpeeling the layers, a little at a time.
Letting be.
Reaching out, and making a connection, torn and tattered bits and all.
Perfect Imperfect
~~~
This piece is a contribution to the mini-series on perfectionism
Photos, writing, prose poems and poetry, plus short courses and materials to help you capture the art of everyday wonder.
Joanna, I think you hit the nail on the head as to why I’ve decided to, er, take the year off from online life. Not that I’m blaming anyone, you understand - it’s just how it feels to me. Oh, sure; I allowed it to happen, ya know? But still, it’s been nice to unwind for awhile. (I do miss the conversations, though!)
Joanna, these are words of wisdom indeed! Though usually content with my humble little food blog, once in a while I succumb to comparing its level of “success” with other more visible food blogs; and that is not a good thing!
Twitter: jackiewalker
says:
The first thing that popped into my mind was the whacky film Death Becomes Her! I’m all for remembering to slow down, step back, lift the stone and see the worms underneath where the sun hasn’t shone.
Thank you, Joanna, for these grounding words. A couple of months ago I decided to cull most of my RSS feeds to blogs that I had been following avidly for some time. Although I found their self-improvement messages inspiring, I had begun to feel overwhelmed by all the calls to action. As you say: Shine! Dream! Sparkle! I decided to tune in less often so I could listen to myself more. Foof - what a relief.
Accepting and loving yourself with all your imperfections is another wonderful call and it’s not mutually exclusive with making positive changes in your life when you feel the need.
This morning, I took your advice to get out and walk! I walked to an ice cream shop and took my to the sunny kirkyard where I whiled away a delightful 15 minutes reading the gravestones.
Twitter: ebbstachio
says:
Joanna,
This is a great point. I’ve been pulling back a bit of late from consuming information for the sake of it. It really is overwhelming.
I believe if we want to create legacy work, we need to put time in, with ourselves, with the craft, without distractions, and just do it. From here on in, more creation, less consumption.
I will, however, check in to my favourite blogs from time to time.
Conor
[...] Inspiration Previous [...]
Twitter: vanwaffle
says:
Along with all these messages I find the emphasis on productivity. I tend to carry the guilty feeling that unless I am productive, I must be lazy. I suspect this distracts us from genuine quality not only of what we create, but also of our own lives, simply concentrating on being content and taking pleasure in what we are and do.
Twitter: joannapaterson
says:
Robert, I do completely understand, and hope we can all find ways to claim back some of the ordinary, less striving space. I miss the conversations too, and I miss you, though I’m glad to see you’re still here
Jean | Delightful Repast, indeed Jean, it can make us feel less than totally wonderful, and stop us doing the great stuff we’d otherwise be sharing… it’s good to watch and learn from time to time, but you need to be in the right frame of mind to avoid squashing your
own creative impulses. Not just you, I mean, we all do.
Jackie Walker, and thank you for everything you do to help us lift those stones
Twitter: joannapaterson
says:
Nicola, absolutely, and I really think the better able we are to accept ourselves the way we are, the more we can do interesting, exciting, heart-full and world changing things. (Nae pressure though!)
PS I love walking in graveyards too… so many interesting stories there, not to mention photos waiting to be taken
Conor, very glad you’re still checking in
Thanks for the reference to the legacy work: that has really lingered with me, and I’m using it to ask myself (gently) what legacy I want to create through my own words, images, and actions.
That is such a good point… so many pressures on us not to do this… so much pleasure when we do