Wednesday, March 02, 2005

 

The enigmatic Gregg the Obscure returns after a 15-month break from blogging. He mentions that "refraining from blogging was very difficult" and I'm sort of awed by the discipline it must take to quit blogging cold-turkey for that long. My Lenten regulation is not to blog before noon and that actually feels onerous, if you can believe that. KTC admits to being a publicity hound, as am I, and said she could never handle a SiteMeter. I gave Sitemeter up for Lent and it was the sort of sacrifice that paradoxically feels like a burden lifted.

Blogging has taught me that I can't handle fame and that I should avoid it (though I suspect that won't be a problem *grin*). The lust for recognition, for "attaboys", is something I never felt in my real job. But I do feel it in blogging, oddly enough. What inexorably happens is you begin to substitute human props for divine, and that is precisely where madness begins.

I wish Gregg the Obscure had "said more words" concerning what led his to his decision to forego blogging. He did mention his energies could be better used elsewhere, and that is understandable. I certainly feel the same way. But I think what drives over-blogging is that lust for hits, for recognition. So if you salt-peter the drive by taking down SiteMeter and limiting blogging time - with a stopwatch is how Julie of Happy Catholic does it - then it seems you can do it without it taking too much of one's energies. Or so I think aloud.

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Comments:
I gave Sitemeter up for Lent and it was the sort of sacrifice that paradoxically feels like a burden lifted.That's how I felt when the Internet was briefly inaccessible for me most of the day. (Usually, I have DSL open on a laptop all the time.) And it wasn't even a sacrifice, it was forced on me.

I probably want accolades when blogging, but am so afraid of trying and not receiving them that it keeps me from trying. If I tried hard, I still don't think I'd be a top-tier blogger (or even commenter,) so it's like some weird inside-out pride that keeps me not trying and not finding out that yeah, I really wouldn't. OTOH, I like stats just for numerical fun, so SiteMeter was more of a time-waste than just an ego thing for me. But having blogged and stat-watched, I'm amazed at some of the hit counts others mention and minimize :)
 
Well you're certainly a top-tier commenter here, though admittedly there's not much competition! :-)

I love stats too so there was a fascination in it. Like from what countries people visited, which wasn't about accolades (more about search engine requests).
 
Thanks for the kind mention. I stopped blogging as a penance for something that's not really related to blogging at all. The plan was (1) that the discipline inculcated by refraining from blogging would help me to do better at the struggle against a besetting sin and (2) that it would do me good to give up something that is good on its own. The discipline required to refrain from blogging is much less than the discipline required to live the life I ought in regard to the sins to which I cling.
 
Well it's certainly good to see you back in town Gregg. Will pray for your intentions.
 
I'm glad to hear that Gregg is back.

I was sad when he stopped blogging, and I can hardly believe that it's been that long.

It's odd. If I had voluntarily decided to give up blogging, instead of unexpectantly not having a computer, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it.

But it wasn't hard to not have a computer. At the same time, it made me realise that there would be no objective good in me voluntarily giving up blogging, because the time I spent away was no more edifying than time I spent blogging.

Sorry for running off at the mouth. I think I'm overcompensating for past silence. :P
 
Hey Crystal, good to have you back too. As regards of giving things up, I recall a priest once telling us that it's more meritorious to be cheerful about something God takes away rather than we ourselves.

So if I give up something for Lent, I am choosing the what, the how much, etc...I still have control. It's more meritorious if I cheerfully offer up something over which I have no control, out of obedience.
 
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