Life in progress

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JusJoJan24 the 2nd – Gregorian

I want to start this post by saying if Gregorian came from a guy named Gregory, there should be a Lindarian something or other.

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt is courtesy of Willow. Check out her blog here!

Things that were readily available when the Gregorian calendar (the one we use now) came about (in the late 1500s):

  1. Horses on every corner. Or at least on every corner that mattered.
  2. Fresh vegetables without steroids.
  3. Clean air. (Except where the horses were, then WHEW, how ’bout that smell?)
  4. Kids that weren’t glued to a screen most of the time.
  5. Lots of blacksmiths. Because horses.

Things that weren’t readily available when the Gregorian calendar came about:

  1. Horsepower. At least not the car kind.
  2. Milk in bags. Not in Ontario or Quebec, Canada? It’s a thing.
  3. Air that’s free of the scent of horse manure. (But what about those diesel engines? WHEW!)
  4. Computers that could tell you at any given point how many days to Christmas … I could actually do without that, thanks very much.
  5. Few blacksmiths, plenty of tire shops.

And that’s my Lindarian list.

This listy post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Willow for the prompt!


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9 Things I Learned From Not Blogging Every Day

As a blogger who has gone from posting occasionally, to every day and then back to once in a while, I’ve found there are both advantages and disadvantages to both methods. Some of the good points only apply to the blog itself, but some are important factors for general well-being. Here is my list:

For the Blog

  1. Posting every day creates a momentum. I often got almost as many views from the post of the day before as I did the current one, thus doubling the number of views. When posting only occasionally, views plummet on days I don’t post.
  2. Time of day is important! Even though I posted every day for a year on my fiction blog, the number of views went down if I published after eight at night. It was the same deal if I posted too early. Followers get used to seeing you at the same time every day.
  3. It doesn’t matter how frequent posts are on a fiction blog – fiction gets fewer views. Period. My theory is that if people want to read fiction, they’ll usually pick up a book.
  4. Even if you take a break, people will come back. Especially people who really like what you write.

 

For Life in General

  1. Not posting every day means more exercise – just as well, my butt was getting square.
  2. Not blogging means more time for other projects, including ones that come with getting a square butt. Still a plus.
  3. Posting every day provides a constant means of interaction with other humans. I have to say, I don’t laugh nearly as much when I’m away from WordPress.
  4. Going back and forth from daily blogging to not gives a perspective of what’s important in life. Yes, obviously family is the most important thing, but for me as a writer, so is being able to write. Without a steady outlet of my thoughts onto the screen, I become more irritable – which is not necessarily a good thing for my family either. Therefore, my final point is,
  5. Balance is essential! I’m still working on finding mine.

 

My conclusion, as I’ve come to realize it, is that as much as I hear everyone say “real life” is more important than being online, it depends what I do with my online life, and equally what I do with my life offline. I think it’s okay to spend a healthy amount of time sitting at a keyboard if that time is productive and provides an outlet rather than an escape (though escape is important too). I’d like to start posting every day again: mostly what I’ve learned by not doing so, is that it’s okay to walk away. I guess that’s actually ten things, isn’t it. 😛

What do you think? Can you add to the list?