On Blogging: Something To Think About This Summer
“What message am I delivering to myself? When I deliver truth and love to myself, I am happier, and just by being happier, the people around me benefit. My effort is really for everyone, because my joy, my happiness, my heaven are contagious.” Don Miguel Ruiz
On Blogging: Something To Think About This Summer... Bhutan-Haa Valley; the happiest place in the world
Even though summer officially starts on June 21st, we can already feel the shift in the blogging community and, perhaps, in our lives. Do you find yourself and your blogging efforts slowing down? Our orientation is now directed towards the many things we do on languid summer days; especially a slowing down of sorts and a reluctance to be or feel rushed. Sharon at The RealSharon’sBlog wrote a piece about diminishing blog stats, including # of likes, comments and visits, and this is definitely one of the signs that some of our blog friends are embracing the sun and heading elsewhere. Ditto our good friends at Google. Don’t despair as things will pick up again by fall and we’ll all be back in the mood to blog at full tilt once more. With 200 days left till January 1, 2012, we have plenty of time to catch up and plenty more to write. Keep at it.
What to do this summer? A couple of my blog buddies are turning the blogging volume down to refuel and focus on other needs and writing commitments. Jane at PlaneJaner is taking some time out, and Deborah at The Monster in the Closet is adjusting her schedule to focus on family and other writing projects; she generously handed out three blog awards today and I am one of the grateful recipients; more on it later. If you feel the draw to blog less, then go for it; just stay in touch with us please.
On Blogging: Something To Think About This Summer... Bhutan Taktshang Monastery... go see and write
If you’d like a few more things to consider for the summer, I have some blogging suggestions for you; something to think about this summer… Start off by traveling, if the cash gods are kind enough, to the happiest place in the world – Bhutan. You may also find comfort in the wonderful summer tips offered by Nancy at NRHatch. More things to think about below… 🙂
Do your work and I shall know you. Do your work and you shall reinforce yourself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
On Blogging: Something To Think About This Summer... bhutan masked dancer... join the fun
Read
To help breathe new life into your blogging, nothing beats the gifts found in reading; read new and old books. Seth Godin, in a post today, recommended a selection of great summer 2011 readings for your enjoyment. I will encourage you to check out these two great books on the list: Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth by Lisa Napoli and thxthxthx: Thank Goodness for Everything by Leah Dieterich.
Write
Thank you notes and other creative efforts can help us get our juices flowing. If you find that your blogging time is interfering with other projects and plans, then adjust your writing schedule if need be… like my buddy Deb. The key is to keep writing both on and offline. My friends at #Trust30 are encouraging us to do their prompts either way we choose, so keep that writing going. As a friend reminded me today, each blog post we write adds one page to that book we want to write, think about it; 364-5 pages by end of year. 🙂
Travel
Travel is a great way to learn new things and visit places that will provide you with more fodder for your blog. Whether you choose to go local or beyond, find your sweet spots and get refueled there … then come back and share. For now, I’ll say go Bhutan – considered the happiest place in the world because of its sheer beauty and focus on environmental and social progress. Gate1Travel and a host of others will take you there…
Movies
Sign up and catch some free movies via free membership clubs that let you preview new movies when you join; groups like The CinemaSource, FilmMetro, and Gofobo will help you add a new blog post about an upcoming movie. Or play catch up via Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, or TED for great ideas worth spreading.
On Blogging: Something To Think About This Summer... blissful purple flowers.. plant and grow
Garden
You know that gardening is not for the faint of heart and that it fuels the mind with great creative material; material that can be used in your blog. Did you see the movie Being There? It was based on the book by Jerzy Kosinski and shed light on the beauty and fertility of the mind in “Life is a state of mind” gardening moments. Take another peek at your yard.
Summer Foods
Eat well and add new ingredients/recipes to your diet and blog. My Extravaganza Salad will fill you and keep your energy levels up; recipe below
Extravaganza Salad: Toss mixed organic greens with walnuts, cranberries, kumato tomatoes, slivers of goat cheese, sliced avocado, lemon juice, beets, and a dash of Oliviers & Co’s White Condiment with Honey & Ginger… and enjoy. Viola!
Share Your Awards
As I mentioned earlier, Deborah of The Monster in The Closet handed out three fabulous blog awards which she wants us to share with others. I’ll gladly share them with all of you, you are all deserving for staying the course, and I will give you the rules in an upcoming post. Once posted, you may claim them; simply link back a thank you to me. TY! 🙂 Congratulations All! 😉 😳 🙂
Study/Learn/Connect
When all is said and done, find time to learn a new skill or sport and connect with other like-minded souls in the blogosphere. Whether you choose to expand your social media connections on Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook or take a course on a subject of interest, use the opportunity to share your insights on your blog. I’ll be looking forward to your contributions. What are your thoughts? Do you have summer plans? What do you plan to do blog-wise? Do share! Thank you. 😉
Positive Motivation Tip: Enjoy all the summer has to offer you and blog anyway!
Related articles
- Bhutan among 100 places to remember before they disappear (chimalaya.org)
- Bhutan Queen Offered Butter Lamps For Elvis’ Soul (dekerivers.wordpress.com)
- Beautiful Bhutan – Thimphu, Bhutan (travelpod.com)
- Book Review: Married to Bhutan, by Linda Leaming (susanheim.blogspot.com)
- Bhutan’s modern face (chimalaya.org)
PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: Photo of Bhutan-Haa Valley, Taktshang Monastery, and Bhutan masked Dancer via Wikipedia Purple Bliss in garden from my personal collection.
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
Languid – a word I just used with a student I’m tutoring to help her think about summer and what summer is about. 🙂
Oops!!! Thank you dear Nola, just noticed comments as I furiously try to finish up the post… I am feeling the pull to slow down but that goat in me won’t give in… Hence the botched up posts and late additions. Tehe! Thanks for the feedback… yes, languid… we all are of late 🙂
My first Little Sister gets here in two days, so I’m really looking forward to 3.5 days of just laughing, talking about all manner of things and not getting enough sleep! I’m going to SDCC with my family next month, too, but . . . I’m beyond excited for Amelia’s arrival the day after tomorrow! She liked the idea of writing a blog entry about BB/BS with me, so hopefully that’s what my Monday entry will be about! (I say “hopefully” because the winds may take us other ways, and that would be lovely, too!)
♥
Oops again 😳 I promise to have this post fully finished by midday tomorrow; joking! But Thanks again for stopping by and do stop in when the post is fully finished. That summer bug is biting me too. 🙂 Enjoy the family and down time and more. I will check in on the Monday post. Thanks again for the triple good luck blog awards. 🙂
Have a wedding in Jamaica and family reunions on both sides in Toronto on the same weekend. So I guess I’ll be traveling and blogging. Content and more content.
My numbers are down as well but I’d attributed it to the move. Anyway, working on building /re-building my readership this summer.
Thanks, Elizabeth!
The trip sounds wonderful… food, places and scenery. Goody! As per the summer blogging story, this is fairly typical as people change direction and spend less time on blogging and so numbers and comments take a dive. I’ll be here blogging away and will try to post ahead before I go anywhere TY! 🙂
Nice to hear that more people are having lower stats and it’s not just me! I have no plans to slow down – so painful as it may be, I will be here – perhaps playing to crickets but here nevertheless.
Bhutan looks amazing! I swear I’ve seen it in my dreams which is kind of freaky – maybe I just saw a picture and forgot and then dreamt of it! I hope you get to go Elizabeth but you must share all your photos if you do!! 🙂
Yes, Karen… we are not alone and this too shall pass. I’ll be blogging away so let’s all keep each other supported. As for Bhutan, you probably did visit it in a dream; it feels familiar to me too…. and I’d love to visit it – especially that monastery! TY! 🙂
thanks for the suggestions. I too have noticed a downward shift in my visitors/comments, and I am guilty of getting busy and letting things slide as well, not commenting as much 🙁 I miss everyone but know that life has that funny way of taking over sometimes. I don’t have any summer plans as of yet, other than work. I’m saving up my money for my trip to NY in October. I think just working on getting in shape and exercise as much as possible and strengthening my back, and just trying to enjoy life.
Hi Stacey, sad but true…. but you know, we should just keep blogging and supporting each other so we can all make it through the slow summer anyway. I’ll be at it; even if I post only photos and a few words. I’d like to work on my poetry writing again as a lot can be said in a few words…. for a quick post. TY! 🙂
I HAVE noticed the lower stats but realized quickly as to why. My travel starts on Monday: Pensacola, Kentucky and St. Martin/Sint Maarten. Then I have my master gardening volunteer work, a photography class (hoping), art workshops and the list goes on. I will try to keep up the reading of this wonderful blogging community.
Fantastic trip there for you… and then you’ll be quite busy this summer. I do hope you stay connected and share the fruits of your trip. Bon voyage and I’ll be looking out for the photos from your travels. TY! 🙂
You gave me reassurance today, thank you. We don’t have holidays so it didn’t occur to me that people will be going away and not reading blogs.
You are welcome Tilly. It happens like clockwork every year and we just have to plod along and keep up our writing… always a good thing for our Google referrals and for our heads anyway. The rest will return in the fall or whenever… TY! 🙂
What an inspirational post! I have noticed my stats are down and it makes sense. My garden is calling to me now. (All that is ready to eat now is lettuce and radishes, but the tomatoes are green on the vines, the corn is two-feet high and I’m anticipating watermelon, squash, cucumbers, green beans and of course lovely sunflowers which are now about 4-feet high). We have a very busy July coming up and I’ve been worried about keeping up with blogging. A family trip to Grand Caymen, hosting two of my son’s teenage friends from FL (much food shopping/cooking that week) and a trip to FL to return them home and visit with friends, working soccer sign-ups, and getting ready for back to school in mid-August. But I LOVE summer (which is one reason I miss living in FL so much!) And I love the more relaxed atmosphere that is apparent in the blogosphere. More smiles, less stress.
You will be quite busy too… Grand Caymen should be a ton of fun with great photos to share and FL will keep you running around… so blogging will take a seat? Do stay connected with the rest of us. TY! 🙂
Thank you for this post ! Summer brings much joy, as we have other interest on our agenda and many roads of travel. The blogging world slows down, to the fury of the season. Our comments and stats take a dive, but with continued effort we enjoy our time outdoors. Soon the winter months will kick in and all will be back to the blogging world. Wishing all my blogging buddies a great and happy summer filled with fun and adventure. 🙂
Wishing you same too Penny. Are you around this summer too? I hope we can stick it out and keep blogging. Enjoy the warm weather. TY! 🙂
Ah summerrrrrrr! I love how the word just rolls off the tongue. Summer…. It’s filled with possibilities. I’ll be ramping up my summer fundraiser for the kids. I’ll have a post up this week. In between time I’ll be hitting the beaches!
Have a great summer everyone! 🙂
Ditto Norah,
I like the enthusiasm there and I bet your summer is going to fantastic. Get some shots out of it to share with the rest of us. TY! 🙂
summer? some trips to Bavaria. no money for Bhutan – but saw some Buddhas for sell in shops in Bavaria 🙂
Welcoem back! I hope you had a great time. I loved looking at the picture… The deer are quite magnificent. Hope you will continue blogging during the summer. Any other travel plans? TY! 🙂
I have been cutting back on blogging myself this summer. I’ve been blogging for three and a half years, and many of my blog buddies have stopped blogging, or stopped commenting as much on my blog. I do miss the days when my posts would get me 10,000 hits a day and dozens of comments, but these days, I’m just happy if an old friend stops by, just to say hi.
I think Facebook and Twitter have really taken away the sense of community blogging used to have, don’t you?
This summer, I’ll be spending my free time gardening, walking and reading, as I managed to get about 100 books during BookExpo week last month. (Crazy, right?) I write a lot of book reviews, but my blog is about everything I like and don’t like. I do miss writing about TV shows and movies as much as I used to, but I still manage to throw in some travel posts, photography posts, and funny or tragic personal essays from time to time.
I was just in NY last month, so the only place I’ll be traveling to this summer is the U.P.–the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We are looking to relax for our next summer vacation.
Hi there,
Thanks for stopping by! I found your blog story quite fascinating and I will be checking out your blog shortly. I’m not sure that those two sm sites took away from blogging as that they created alternative ways for people to connect. Some of us are juggling all three and some of us have made decisive choices on where our commitments lie.
For me, blogging has taken a key place and then I fit others around it because I love all three and the different benefits they provide.
With 100 books, you have your summer cut out for you… I’d love to see what you review. Your blog sounds like a lot of fun reading… If you come to NY again, give me a holla! TY! 🙂
Interestingly I find myself more productive in the summer with both art and writing. Being near the ocean inspires me and being able to get out and take a long walk to get the juices flowing is so helpful.
Whatever you’ll be doing this summer I hope everyone enjoys each and every moment.
Thanks!
b
You are near the ocean? Wonderful! That would definitely help me tune in to the creative realm faster… I hope you create some more art pieces as I love your work. Enjoy your summer too but we will be blogging anyway, right? 🙂
Thanks for mentioning me in your post! I’ll still be around about the same because I’m determined to complete the blogging everyday in 2011! 🙂
Not sure much about my summer..I was planning to go to Austin for the weekend with my hubby and mom for one of my niece’s birthdays but that will have to be postponed due to my Nanny being in the hospital. 🙁
I wish you the best Summer and I plan to stick around and support all my blogging buddies throughout! 🙂
Thnak you for giving me the idea to address it… Credit to you! I send your nanny and mom lots of healing light too… Please take care of yourself while you nurture them. Summer bliss and blogging fun to you. too. I’ll be around. TY! 🙂
Very thoughtful post. It makes sense that bloggers see a downward shift in the summer time. After being cooped up all year blogging, it’s time for fun.
Good thing you are encouraging others to support the efforts of blogging diehards.
At least, it will guaranttee that others will stay committed and supportive.
I like that you mentioned Sharon and other blog friends to show the connections. Great post!
B
Thank you too! I hope lots of others stick around in the summer as it does slow down in these parts; the blogging world. Yes, it was a subject she touched on, and one that comes up every year so I knew it would be helpful to address it.
I hope your summer is fun and bright. TY! 😉
Traveling, then traveling then hopefully more of that for me this summer…oh and maybe a book or two.
That sounds terrific. Where are you headed then? Don’t forget we planned to meet in the city one of these summery days! TY! 🙂
u r a disneyland in person. keep on.
Thank you for stopping by my blog… I’ve never been to Disneyland so I assume this is a suggestion to check it out? Enjoy your summer! 🙂
Summer is not until December for us, so we have a while to go yet!
Oh you poor dear… but your winters are not terribly cold are they? I should look into that. How are you doing? TY! 🙂
Depends on your perspective. Given you are used to New York, no, not that cold. The kids, on the other hand, think their toes and fingers are about to drop off any moment! It is 10 C right now, at 1am. We get close to zero (freezing) many mornings during this month and next, but that will be about it. I wear a coat in the mornings – but it would probably be considered a summer jacket in New York! LOL Although if I recall, New York summers can be the other extreme!
Here’s to FUN in the SUN! Thanks for linking up with SLTW. 😀
You are welcome Nancy and thanks for all your comments and blog support. We are all going to need it as the summer drags some of buddies away! TY! 🙂