Thoughts on Facebook and Blogging

Facebook is quite amazing, isn't it?

I've been Facebooking for many years - and Blogging for even longer (11 years and counting). Facebook, at first, was a great way to stay connected to my kids and grandkids... but now, only one of the three of them posts much on FB anymore. One is way too busy in his final year of college as a double major science whiz. The other one is a busy mom of 4 year old twins and she barely has time to eat, let alone sleep or doing anything on FB! The one who does post on FB is the manager of an organic farm affiliated with St. Joseph's University near Portland, Maine. I love her posts - lots of photos of fresh product, baby animals ever growing up, and all the labor intensive work that goes into farming. I've even painted (and posted) some from her photographs of sheep.

Over the years, my Facebooking revolved more around reading about fellow artists and photographers. It's been a great way to keep up with the swiftly changing world of art supplies, techniques, and styles as well as stay connected to artists whose work I admire.

And yes, I can & do keep in touch with family - near and far, via Facebook. And I'm able to keep up with some genealogical sites, too - which is cool as well as informative.

But more and more, I'm noticing that Facebook is fading in relevance, for me, for my family, and for my friends. And the politics of the past few years has definitely influenced, and for me, contaminated the air waves, the posts, the sharings, the photos, etc. I'm dreadfully tired of seeing that same face making with nasty expressions in so many places. Not to mention that catching up on Facebook these days takes a LOT of time!

I'm realizing that I am missing the thoughtful posts that blogging offers. While there's not the same back and forth dialoging that FB instantly provides, blogging is an opportunity for a more in-depth approach to whatever is on one's mind. Neither is fool-proof, of course. Lies and half-truths will abound. Opinions will rise to the foreground, but with blogging, there is the time/space required for more thoughtful consideration of whatever the topic. And fewer off-the-cuff responses that often miss the point of the conversation.

Finding blogs with detailed before, during, and after photos and explanations, particularly of art projects - this is delightful! It's even better when the artist provides a commentary about why they are choosing to do what they do when they do it, as well as HOW they do it. I guess that's what makes really great teachers, those who can share the internal processes as well as the external ones that lead from a concept through experimentation and into a completed work of art.

What I have lost is the "how to" find blogs that would interest me. There used to be a great way to be in a blog chain of sorts, to link up with other sites along the same line, to explore those writing about similar topics. I can't remember what it was - and that was years ago, anyway.

If anyone out there is listening/reading, would you offer your ideas and suggestions as to how to find other like-minded bloggers posting about their creative processes in watercolor, pastels, photography? Of nature, beauty, life and more? I'd love to learn more and to find the niche where I may fit in and learn from and share with others via blogging vs. Facebooking.

Thanks!

Eight Years of Blogging... Wow!

It surprises me that I'm still blogging after 8 years... Actually, I may be more committed now than I have been for the past few years, since our retirement to central Pennsylvania. My first blog was February 11, 2005 - so long ago, yet not so long at all... We were still living in New Jersey, I was still quilting avidly, and still teaching holistic health/spirituality courses at a local University. Today, we're retired and the great-grandparents of identical twins girls aged 6+ months. Life is drastically different - I rarely quilt since arthritis causes so much pain in my left shoulder. I no longer teach, although I do do some spiritual direction. And we live a much more peaceful existence in rural PA. Today, I took a look at the number of blog postings over those years and this is the tally:

► 2013 (3)
► 2012 (3)
► 2011 (15)
► 2010 (42)
► 2009 (51)
► 2008 (56)
► 2007 (63)
► 2006 (94)
▼ 2005 (177)

It's quite easy to see I wrote less and less each year - especially the last 3 years. That may be due, in part at least, to the fact that I've done very little art in the past 3 years. While there have been moments of intense creativity, those times have been "few & far between," as my mom used to say. But only 3 posts in all of 2012! What a disgrace - if I were into disgrace... Indeed, what a lapse - that I can surely admit.

From Nov 2011 to Feb 2012 I wrote nothing, and then nothing again until Dec 28, 2012! Our lives changed pretty radically during that time, which you already know if you've read my last few postings.

Interestingly enough, I never liked writing as an undergrad student. It wasn't until my advanced degree classes that I really understood how to write with a level of consistency, orderliness, and interest. As mainly an intuitive thinker, I found it amazingly difficult to order my thoughts or to present new ideas to others in a linear fashion so my ideas could be easily interpreted/understood. I still have what my family refers to as "leap-frog" conversations with other intuitives - easily loosing linear thinkers in our rapid discussions. Yet, I know the importance now of linear presentations and have learned to reconstruct my thoughts for presentations to others in an orderly fashion.

That's why it's both easy & fun to write tutorials for the arts. In the past eight years, I've posted lots of tutorials, although I doubt they've all been labeled - I don't think that labels were part of early blogging.

Anyway, I now am recommitting my energy to writing more often - whatever happens to be passing through my mind. Art projects will remain a large part of the blog, but reflective thinking will also be important. I used to hand-write in a journal as a daily practice - beginning in the early 1980's. But that daily practice tapered off in the early 2000's. Most of those 20 years worth of journals went to the dump when we downsized in 2002 or so. So only the last few years worth of spiral bound notebooks still exist. In looking back on them, they seem so incredibly self-centered! I hope my blog isn't quite so preoccupied with self...

There are new art pieces to be shared. Baby stories to share. Quilt shows to explore & write about. New mediums to play in. Meanwhile, the twins are babbling on the floor & will need attention very soon.

Enjoy your day, however it goes!