BLOG EVOLUTION (updated & re-posted)

Following on the heels of my ‘Just Trying To Help’ blog originally written a few years ago, I had followed that one up with a post called, ‘Blog Evolution…..And So It Grows’. I was reminded of that post recently when I came across LIFE WITH LUCI & LOREE & her thoughts on why she blogs. She brings up a some good points which reminded me of my original Blog Evolution post.

For many of us, writing is an emotional outlet & I certainly fall into this category. It is a therapy of sorts to put our thoughts & feelings into writing. To take some of that bottled up sadness, anger, excitement & creativity & flow it out of our minds into a readable & easily understandable format. People have been doing this for ages & it is a recommended way to deal with one’s inner thoughts & feelings. Also, I have always felt by going public with these feelings that it not only helps me deal with issues, but help’s others as well simply by knowing they are not alone, & yes, it’s alright to talk about things. It’s alright to admit your having a bad day or your feeling depressed or concerned about something. It’s alright to share your excitement over a new puppy or an upcoming trip. It’s fine to talk of your dreams, your hopes for the future & your memorable past. For me personally, I feel a blog is more than just a daily account of what I do all day, where I go, what I eat, or what I see.  If I chose to talk about it that is:))

Long time readers have read my ‘Blog Evolution’ before & I can here the ‘ho-hums’ out there but we did pick up a fair number of new readers this past winter & it is for these folks I decided to re-post this.  Anyway, for what it’s worth, here is my updated post from July 31rst, 2010 entitled, BLOG EVOLUTION....AND SO IT GROWS.   You might find the photos in this original post kind of interesting too.

Yes, I know just a few days ago I said, no more blogging topics for awhile but this one is ok & it's something I have touched on several times before. After some recent comments & emails I thought I would touch on it again because it does concern everyone writing a blog. Relax, it's not a 'do's & don'ts blog like before & this topic is survivable:))

I, like most other bloggers started blogging with the thought in mind of keeping family & friends informed of traveling whereabouts & activities. One of the side benefits would be in having a record of dates, adventures & places traveled. That was all well & fine......in the beginning. It soon became apparent that most friends & family members were not interested & very few of them ever checked the blog.  (I am happy to say there has been a few changes in this area:))  It seems friends & family not reading a person’s blog is a very common occurrence for RV bloggers. Well, that presented a bit of a problem because if nobody was interested, why write a blog (and Publish it) in the first place. Therein began the early evolution stage of my blog.

I have always had an interest in writing, photography, traveling & with the advent of the blogging era it all just magically fell into place. But, if family & friends weren't interested, who was.......if anybody. I belonged to an online forum group at the time called 50+ & every once & awhile I would write a little something & put in the forum. That was enough to get me further interested & before long the blog idea was born. We weren't traveling at the time but every once & awhile I would reach into my memory vaults & write about something I had experienced at one time or another along the highway of life. Had a few more responses & that spurred me on to write more.

As our travels increased, so did our readership. Very slowly at first but at least it was a start & most responses seemed to be coming in from other RV people.  The blog also evolved into a platform for my photography hobby as well. Noticed people were beginning to comment on some photos I included & that of course spurred me on to take more photographs. The blog was slowly growing.

I blogged occasionally at first while at home & then every day of our 07/08 Southwest trip. When we returned home for the summer in 08 I dropped the daily travel blogging routine but noticed within a week or so the comments, emails, & responses were encouraging me to keep the blog going. Well, encouragement was all I needed (never had much of that as a kid) and by the end of that summer I was blogging full tilt every day & have pretty much continued with that ever since. The evolution of the blog from beginning to present has had a lot to do with motivation.  I was motivated & encouraged to write the blog & take the photos by all the people reading & responding to the blog.  That is still my motivation today.

Some folks say they write their blog for themselves & if they didn't have anyone reading, it wouldn't really matter. Well, that's fine for them I guess but it sure doesn't work for me that way. If I was just doing this for me I wouldn't bother to hit the 'Publish' button at the end of each blog. It is people with an interest in reading my blog & looking at the photos that keeps my enjoyable hobby going & that is why I gear the blog towards people with like minded interests to mine. If I wrote the blog just for myself it would not look like it does today either. I would not bother with all the graphics, colors & sidebar stuff & it would probably not include any photos because there would be no purpose for me to do that. My blog journal would just be a plain white background with the standard black print & look simply like an everyday newspaper article. Not much imagination there so not much of a challenge for me. Just a simple journal with a few simple thoughts & events I suppose. Knowing me, I would probably get bored with that pretty quick & the whole thing would just simply slip quietly into obscurity.

If it were not for the blog I would not have all the camera equipment I have today & what camera equipment I had would probably be sitting in a dust covered camera bag in the bottom of a closet somewhere. Again, the evolution of the blog & it’s positive effects are apparent. As stated before, I have no interest in photo contests or printing pics to hang on walls or putting in albums. The blog's photo platform has given me a way to display my photos for anyone interested & I am totally happy with that. If readers enjoy looking at the photos as much as I enjoy taking them, then that is good enough for me.

In early 1993 I lost all interest in photography & packed all my 35mm equipment away simply because there just wasn't any point in wasting money on film & processing just to look at the pics a couple times & then throw them in a box or slide carousel. Aside from doing some travelogues I just didn't have a purpose. And, the problem with doing travelogues was my fear of having to stand up in front of a bunch of people & narrate my slide shows. I used to do some Sunday afternoon travelogues at the Stratford Art Gallery years ago & that was a real nerve buster for me standing up in front of a bunch of seated people.  Now I can get my pics out there from the quiet comfort of my recliner chair, the Motor Home or our scenic sunroom. No need to get all nervous anymore and it's all because the blog has evolved from it's original concept into a purposeful relaxed platform for me.

For Kelly & I, it has been the RV community that has been our main blog supporters & we have met more people on the road & made more friends on-line than we ever have here at home. And, it has been the blog that has done all that.

Your blog is whatever you want to make it as you, along with your blog, evolve with it's growth. If you are new to blogging & are finding friends & family not as responsive as you hoped, don't give up, just take your blog in a different direction, change your priorities & let it evolve into something you enjoy doing. Find a niche & share your thoughts, feelings, & interests with others.

So, in conclusion I say to all my fellow bloggers.....keep on blogging & grow with your blog. May your purpose & ideas evolve into something greater than what you started out with.  Mine did:))

And, just in case you were wondering....all of tonight's photos were caused by a dripping garden hose on a cold January Arizona night a few winter’s ago while we were staying at a Ranch near McNeal, Arizona.............:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((

A drunk staggers into a Catholic Church, enters a confessional booth, sits down, but says nothing.
The Priest coughs a few times to get his attention, but the drunk continues to sit there.
Finally, the Priest pounds three times on the wall. The drunk mumbles, 'Ain't no use knockin, there's no paper on this side either.

- Tourists see the world, travelers  experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right  now...AL.

stargeezerguy@gmail.com