REALITY / 1

For anyone that's been around since the very beginning, and I mean the very beginning (YIKES!) you can clearly see what a long way we've come since we started back in February last year.  I've learned a lot from blog veterans that have been around the block, so for DASJ being a year old now, being able to share what I've learned through the course of a year of consistent blogging is really enlightening. What I want to talk about today is how you can make blogging work for you and not get sucked into the toxic abyss that is self-doubt, comparing yourself, and jealousy:

  BUT YOU WOULDN'T DRINK POISON, RIGHT?   
I'm pretty big into yoga, zen, and a lot of what goes into the Buddhist culture- no surprise there.  But I remember specifically an article about greed. Oof.  I know I've found myself stuck in a pile of greed before through blogging before, and guess what?  It sucks.  I want to be able to open up honestly and share a little bit of what helped me through those times, and so the story goes:

     A guru asked, "Are you greedy?"
The young man said, "No not really.  Just a little, but that does not count."
     With that, the guru put out a small vial of powder and said, "Take this".
The young man asked, "What is it?"
     The guru replied, "It's poison"
Shocked, the young man retorted, "I'm not going to take that, it will kill me!"
     To which the guru responded, "It's just a little poison- and a little does not count".

So the point I'm trying to make is that if we all realize that even a little poison will hurt your body, why do we not think that a little "mental poison" will not hurt our minds?  To blog for you, you need to try as hard as you can to not give in to the greed, jealousy, and countless comparing of your own blog that is so hurtful to our hearts.

I found I finally broke free of that nonsense when I started focusing on the things I cared about most, and the things I knew I was good at.  So what if I don't travel all over the world or get to spend a ton of money or have a fabulous life.  I have more an amazing life that I can document from my cozy home in the city.  The crafts that make me happy.  My daughter that makes my soul sing.

  PICK OUT WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO YOU   
What is it that you're great at?  Is it cooking?  Is it taking amazing photos?  What about your hobbies, your interests, your passions?  That's what you need to blog about.  Who cares whether or not you think it's cool or interesting, the point is, someone out there in the vast entanglement of the interwebs thinks what you do is pretty cool.

• pick some topics that are important to you
• stick with it, then persevere some more.
• realize that all great things take time
• be consistent

  IF YOU'RE HAPPY, IT SHOWS   
Finally, if you're blogging for yourself and doing what you love, it becomes something so therapeutic and amazing.  Too often we let it become just a catch up game of trying to do something as "cool" as the blog next door.  But competitive blogging is exhausting.  You don't WANT to sit down at the computer anymore because, frankly, you don't feel like it and you're out of good ideas anyway.  When you make the switch to consistently blogging about the things that really get your blood pumping, you can't wait for the next opportunity to share a piece of that knowledge with the world.