What's next?

September always energizes me, encourages me to take stock of where I am and look ahead and set goals.

Professionally, I'll be working with a marketing group to build and manage an online community for a client and hopefully breaking new ground on some other projects. Personally, I'm searching for an organization to volunteer with. Right now I'm thinking about working with groups promoting literacy. Artistically, I'll be submitting work for an exhibit in October and, if time and finances allow, seeing if I can take private lessons from an established artist who works in mixed media. At home, I will be doing what I always do--keeping the household running smoothly and being present for the people I love most in the world.

One area that I'm uncertain about is Compost Studios. What is its future?

I began this blog five years ago, when blogging itself was just beginning to catch on. I was living as an expat in Europe and couldn't get a work permit. I saw blogging as a way to continue writing during my hiatus from professional work. It challenged me creatively, kept my writing skills sharp, and provided a way to share my experiences as I navigated different cultures and countries. It gave friends and family at home a simple way to check in on my life, and it introduced me to a wide range of people that I would never have encountered otherwise, some who have become my very closest friends. I loved writing and reading blogs and interacting with commenters. It opened up a whole new world to me.

In the beginning, my blog was personal, often funny, sometimes emotionally raw. It had an ongoing story line and a strong following. Sadly, after three years, I began to regret telling my story. There were a few personal attacks, public and private, and I began to feel overexposed and uncomfortable with my blog format. My expat years were drawing to a close and I decided it was time for a change.

As I headed back to America, I renamed the site and took the blog in a whole new direction. I buried my archives and began posting about my newly discovered passion for art journaling. I posted poetry (both mine and others'), dabbled in fiction from time to time, shared photos, and only occasionally wrote about my family or my day-to-day life. The blog became a series of snapshots capturing moments and thoughts.  The story was gone, the narrative moved behind the scenes, but the truth of my life was present.

The new format gave me a way to communicate ideas in art that I hadn't been able to write about, but it also changed my online voice and presence. Compost Studios was more serious than its predecessor, seldom wry or funny. It simultaneously became more personal and less personal as I experimented with different forms of expression.

Two years later, I feel I'm at a turning point again. Facebook and Twitter have siphoned attention and social interaction away from personal blogs. Both bloggers and readers are pulled in a lot of directions on the Web, and I think personal blogs have far less impact now than they once did. The social media market is saturated, and at this point it seems everyone has staked their claim, told their stories, made their confessions, defined their lives.

I have written thousands of posts over five years. These days I delete more than I share. There are topics I feel are off-limits for a lot of reasons, and other subject that I feel I've covered ad nauseum. I bore myself and worry that I'm boring you all too. There are things I've considered writing about, but this isn't the forum.

In the last few months, I've been pondering what to do. Shut Compst Studios down or reinvent it?

Sometimes I think about starting over anonymously somewhere else and giving voice to all the things I can't say as V-Grrrl.

Sometimes I think about jumping into fiction and creating a blog that is nothing but character stories and small vignettes.

Sometimes I think about making it all art.

Or in true compost style, just letting things sit for a while and wait and see what regenerates.

What do you think? Is personal blogging relevant anymore? What makes a personal blog interesting and engaging?

Comments

[Jack]

Personal blogging will always be relevant. I suppose that you could say that I am biased and have a vested interest in it, but I do believe it to be true. There is still a place to tell stories and make connections with others.

More importantly it is still a medium that can be used to express the thoughts, feelings, ideas and opinion that live inside.

I keep going because I can't conceive of not being able to- can't imagine what life would be like if I couldn't write. Perhaps if I had another ways to express myself I would feel differently, but...

[furiousball]

I agree with Jack. I love reading your posts chica. I don't have tons of time to comment as much as I used to, but please know I'm still in the stands.

[Tera]

Personally I like blogging. However, I do it for myself and my family as a means of journaling our life. I have never had a strong readership, and actually prefer it that way, though I have made a few friendshipos I treasur ethrough blogging.

I am so thankful that you have blogged. I have sincerely learned from you and I appreciate your words (often of wisdom). I also love your artwork and have enjoyed seeing it progress.

I think blogging could be a medium of the past, but that depends on what the goals are to begin with. I hope you don't give it up completely...

[impy]

I would miss you. Many bloggers have shuttered their spaces. Your thinking is not unique in these ponderings, therefore it seems completely understandable. However, I miss those people who've left an empty space in my thoughts. I still check their blogs,,,,out of hope,,,,,,,,,. Always the same goodbye posts faces me. You've let us into your life, a peek of your family. It gives a smile, a laugh, a tear. it's one sided unfortunately, when we don't blog, or leave comments. So in this case, you can't see what you give to us, or can't get anything in return. I suspect you're read more than you can know by comments, but possibly by a site meter you can. I love to check on you. Your doggie especially gives me such smiles. It's up to you V. It's selfish of me to want you to keep on, but I really do. I like to think of us having a real chat, over tea and lunch. That's impractical, but the blog makes do! I vote you keep on.

[Neil]

I think it might be fun for you to start over. As someone who knows you in real life, I find your blog a sliver of the real you. You tend to show your artistic side, and I sometimes miss the 3-D V-grrrl, bawdy and all. Would that be something you would be comfortable sharing online, especially now as you move towards more professional work?

[Lisa]

For me, you'd leave an empty space. I'd miss your words and your perspective. But you should do whatever you want...whatever feels right. I'll keep reading though and hoping to find new posts.

[Diane]

I would miss your blog personally. I like your insight into things and I love your art work, especially the art journal pieces. I enjoy Facebook, but it doesn't hold the same appeal for me.

[Nance]

It wasn't too long ago that I wondered about whether or not I was performing the classic Exercise In Futility over at the Dept. I agree that the zippier forms of cyber-relating like MyTwitFace have made blogs--which require more than the cursory 45-second scan--almost obsolete and have relegated them almost exclusively to the Older Crowd. I also think that blogging had become almost incestuous in its eagerness to build individual popularity. Sites like Technorati awarded value/points to blogs based upon how many other blogs mentioned your blog in their posts, not upon comments, visits, or anything else. It started to be about bloggers reading/commenting upon other bloggers blogs rather than luring in an independent readership. I'm happy to be part of a group of like-minded people, but any organization that only grows inward and of itself is going to die.

Which is a bigass, long-winded way of saying: You have to decide what is in it for you. That's ultimately what I did. I re-examined my Original Mission, decided it was still working for me, and I keep on writing. Every once in a while, I fret about commenters who have dropped away, but I can't control any of that. And I don't even look at my sitemeter or feed numbers. I enjoy the commenters I have, engage with every one of them in some good chats on my site, and write whatever I want about once a week.

If your blog isn't fun or fulfilling, it's time to go or go in another direction. Just ask yourself: What's in it for me?

[simon]

No time at the moment for a more considered response, but I'd be interested to see the fiction snippets. Maybe one for that and another, password-protected one for the personal stuff?

[V-Grrrl]

I appreciate the feedback, the kind words, and the support

Having the blog has helped push me forward with my writing and with my art too. It's a little too easy to ignore creative impulses and let practical concerns take over your life. The blog has given me an incentive and a reason to keep marching forward, and for that reason I'm reluctant to shutter it.

I also feel like I've found my "tribe" here and walking away would change or end some relationships and interactions that mean a lot to me.

So I'm leaning toward finding a way to break some new ground, with the format and with my writing, and also with my participation in the blogging community.

[Kelby]

Well, I feel badly saying this because it's kind of selfish, but I hope you keep the blog. I visit everyday. I just don't always post a response. I very rarely post a response to any blog that I read. Nonetheless, I think you're a creative and talented writer and I will miss reading your musings should you decide to pull the plug on the project. I do miss reading about your daily family experiences, etc. because they were always so interesting. But having had a very popular, public blog (of a different nature) once upon a time, I fully understand how emotionally taxing it can be to put yourself out into the world as you do. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that selfishly, I want the blog to continue but if it doesn't I will fully understand.

Sending warm regards to you, V. You seem a bit down these days. I pray all is well. It matters to me, friend.

[Shirl Grrrl]

Your friends have said all I can say and more! I like Neil, miss reading the funny stuff... because I am bawdy and love a good laugh. I like Simon's idea of a pass-worded area just for your tribe maybe... Like everybody else, I would miss reading you. Hugs!

[Slow Panic]

I struggle with blogging too. I quit, I start. I quit, I start. I keep coming back though. I find that Facebook and Twitter don't quite do it for me.

[Joe D]

V, I have been one of the silent followers ever since you started this blog. We initially used the blog as a way to keep up with what was going on with you and your family after you left KG. But over time I became a frequent visitor just because the writing was so darn good and it usually brightened my day to see what was going on in V world. What direction you go is up to you, but I think there are at least two good books to be compiled from the stories in your expat blog. Your writing reminds me a lot of Bill Bryson and Pete McCarthy, infused with some female sensitivity. So I selfishly hope you'll continue to produce some stuff for public consumption, as you are a great writer. Whatever you decide to do will be right for you, but my iGoogle page will be much less interesting without any new topics on the Compost Studios RSS. So I just wanted to say a public thanks for the stories and the sharing over the years.

[V-Grrrl]

Hey Joe,

Thank you! I only knew of one reader from KG. I had no idea you were visiting too. In the beginning, I thought my readers would mostly be people I knew from home, but that turned out not to be the case. It's fun to hear there are some "secret" hometown fans.

I'd be honored if you'd keep me in your reader. I'm still turning over ideas. One day, something is going to sprout here.

[Joe D]

I wasn't trying to be secret, just silent. You sometimes learn more that way. As long as the site is up I'll keep reading. I really liked the baggage inspection piece and I'm just fascinated by the artistic process even though I don't understand how the ideas germinate.

[amber]

Hmmm... I'm thinking.
About a lot of the same sort of things...
*sigh*

:)

[christina]

This is such a relevant, valid post... I've been thinking about this too... and I've decided that for me the blog is about MY creativity--a place to see my words and art, a place to keep things and remember things. It's about process... and though my readership has changed a lot over the years, I'm happy to have that small, intense, thoughtful, and creative gathering of people connect with me there in that way. I hope you decide ultimately to share more and worry less: the world needs your beautiful thoughts and art...

[J]

I'm more interested in the real, the raw, the guts of family type blogs than any other. Politics sometimes, but only as they touch you and me, not so much a big political statement.

Having said that, I also feel like I've told my opinions and stories, and I'm either boring myself or others or both most of the time. Also, my daughter is older now, and there are things that are not my business to tell. So while it would be cathartic and helpful to talk, I stay quiet.

Which brings me mostly to book reviews and recipes. Yawn, I know. I've not figured out what to do about it yet. Maybe Ill start an anonymous blog. Maybe I won't. I fear the risks of being discovered are too great, and not to me. If it were just me, it would be an easier decision to make.

[Susan Raihala]

While I enjoy reading your blog and will be very sad if you stop, I must say that blogging has to come from YOU, be what YOU want it to be, or it's just not worth it. I do what I want on my blogs, and my personal blog has cycled from some writing I'm proud of to writing that's eh, to a lot of dog posts, to whatever. It's just an extension of me, not the whole, but it's real and I'm happy posting to it. If others like reading it, well, obviously, that's grand, but if I ever didn't like doing it or felt it was a burden or not real or true anymore, I'd quit and do something different. ONly you can make this call. And maybe you already have because I'm way behind in Google Reader, LOL. But I'll catch up eventually.

Hugs,
Susan

[V-Grrrl]

Julie,

We're facing many of the same issues. *Sigh* I liked my blog better when I was less self-conscious and concerned about...audience. It's blocked my writing to the point where I"m not sure I can write freely anywhere--online or offline. It's frustrating.

Susan,

I am plugging along with art now and waiting to see if words come back into the mix. I haven't made a conscious decision yet, I'm just continuing to let things perk in my subconscious.

[Chris]

I agree with you... about Twitter, FB, and blogging. The convergence is awkward for me, and overwhelming at times. I enjoy the feedback when I blog -- fuels a social/ego need -- but maybe the content is more appropriate for a private journal, or a small circle of family and friends.

I like your last comment to Susan. Sounds like the *right* thing to do in this moment. Don't "they" say, when you aren't sure what to do, don't do anything. You're so multi-talented. You really are.