Lessons Learned (2): Blogging Helps

Here's a bit of a confession: I've never really seen myself as a blogger. Not really.

When I first started Adventures in Voluntary Simplicity (AVS) I saw this whole endeavor as a way to organize my thoughts and challenge myself to embrace a path that was, ultimately, inevitable. The process was solitary by design. The back and forth interaction between author and commenter and that strange, yet infectious camaraderie that thrives between fellow bloggers were always secondary to the main event: learning to live a more simple, purpose-driven life.

A year later I can't help but see things a little differently. In all the ways that matter, the collective experience of literally hundreds of people has actually guided some of the most important decisions highlighted on this blog. More importantly, I have been genuinely inspired by other bloggers, some of whom I have met personally and now call friends.

And isn't that the whole point? I've always been uncomfortable seeing myself as a blogger precisely because the term has always felt sterile and antiseptic to me. I scoff at others who seem to live their lives through online interactions, always looking to increase their blog hit count, press for more and more comments and otherwise derive a great deal of their self-worth from their life online. I have come to value blogging because I've been able to transform my online interactions into real-world relationships and because I have been flexible enough to be challenged by others who might actually know more about life than I think I do.

THE ANTI-BLOG
If this blog has been successful it is because it operates as the “anti-blog.” I don't really give a shit how many hits I get. I don't really care how many people comment on it. I continue to avoid the press and have no desire to market the blog beyond the four corners of Blogger. And through it all, I have followed two cardinal rules: (1) blog ONLY when there is something meaningful to say (hence my 7-8 posts per month), and (2) be brutally honest.

But, as much as I might see this as the “anti-blog,” it is the interaction with my readers that has often made all the difference.