To expand my horizons, I have joined See Jane Write, a local blogging group. The first event of the year was a goal-setting workshop. Content & photos here. I’m in the back corner with grey hair & blue glasses.
We met at Desert Island Supply Co., a free creative writing and tutoring center for local students. The decor was tres Robinson Crusoe. The place was lovely and welcoming and creative. It made me sad. Wouldn’t it be nice if our schools already included such things? A strong system would not need supplementation. Why are good schools so hard for us, collectively, to get behind? An educated society is in everyone’s best interest. But I digress.
Explicit Lesson: Blogging Goals
Many attendees talked about growing their blogs in order to monetize.
I have no desire to expand. I would love to write an essay along the lines of Whatever: Being Poor or My Friend Teresa Photography: So you’re feeling too fat to be photographed . . .. Aren’t familiar with these? Go read. As for numbers, “Being Poor” was written in 2005. In 2014, it was Scalzi’s second most visited post [Top Ten]. On her About page, Teresa says, “Her blog post ‘So You’re Feeling Too Fat to be Photographed’ has reached over 3 million people (and counting!).” That would be awesome. I would love to see my words ping-ponging to every corner of the Web. Short of being touched by Internet magic, I am comfortable with my rate of posting, the length of my posts, and the effort put into same.
As for monetizing, I’m too small for that to be a realistic choice. From what I have gathered anecdotally, I’d be selling out for nickels. I would need much bigger numbers or a more mainstream subject to be worth the hassle. As for the moral high ground, I haven’t a toehold. Since I started this adventure as a commercial column [Back To Eventing], my position on artistic autonomy versus cash is a matter of record.
I went in knowing most of this. I went to meet local bloggers. Which leads me to …
Implicit lesson: Interpersonal Relations
I need to get out more.
I have completely lost the knack for extemporaneous conversation with strangers. I’m at home a lot. When I get off the farm, I go to horse show or to a LEGO meeting. This automatically gives me a topic of discussion. Plus, I don’t have to explain who I am, what I’m doing, or why I am there. So much is already assumed.
Yes, the attendees had blogging in common. Beyond that, we were all over the map. A fitness & fashion blog: Stellar Fashion and Fitness. A book blog: Fixed Baroque. A cocktail blog: Write, Claire, Write!. When asked about myself, I floundered. About the blog. About my writing. About living in the South. I have no elevator speeches for social situations.
My inner curmudgeon is slowly winning.
Virtual Brush Box 
I came to the same conclusion about 6 months ago. A dear friend more or less insisted I update my wardrobe after showing up at her house wearing fitness wear for the last oh, ten years or so. My biggest complaint about spending money on an update was that I have no reason to wear new clothes. Her reply? “You might actually go somewhere fun if you had something nice to wear!” Yeah, it’s a vicious circle: No new clothes, no place to go. No place to go, no need for new clothes. But she persisted and literally dragged me out shopping. Have I mentioned how much I hate shopping? 😉 I got some nice stuff. I also got reacquainted with my mid-life body, something that was probably more at the root of the problem than I’d like to admit. I actually had fun, enough so that I even ventured out to do a little more shopping on my own. (And at one point replaced so many pairs of 20+ year-old shoes that I was embarrassed to have the cashier rang me up. I was tempted to fabricate a story about buying for a “daughter” too.) I’ve finally reconnected with my former, inner fashion diva and I now have a closet full of updated clothing. I really do feel a bit more prepared to go out and be more social. You know, wear some of those nice new clothes before they go out of style? Unfortunately, I still don’t have any social dates on my calendar. So here I stand, staring woefully at a wardrobe that begs to be worn and I haven’t any place to go. Grasping at straws, I’ve started to look forward to the occasional funeral, regularly scheduled hair appointments and routine doctor visits. It’s pretty sad when your hairdresser asks you if you had another appointment somewhere because she’s never in the 15 years she’s known you seen you in a skirt. But hell yeah, I say go for it! 🙂
Curmudgeon should be kicked out the door. “Ride, Sally Ride, upon your mystery ship….”
The only clothes i’ve bought in 20? years is because the old ones neither fit any longer (not that many, really) or fell/washed apart. Socks seem to disappear, tho…hiding with the metal hangers? 🙂
Another post on the evening: http://mylifewellloved.com/2015-goals/