Last week, I wrote asking for your advice about whether I should continue publishing the blog. At the end of January, Terri LaBonte will celebrate five years in print. I was wondering if that was more than enough to exceed my fifteen minutes of fame. Obviously, five years is much longer than fifteen minutes, but let’s be honest. My time in the blog-a-limelight probably does not qualify as actual fame. I figured more time and less fame might average out to mean it was time for me to pack it in.
Thank you all for your helpful and very flattering feedback. It was so touching to read all your support. I guess there are a few of you still reading, after all! Many of you suggested that I should write blog posts when the spirit moves me and not worry about making sure I have new content each week. You graciously tell me that you will continue to read, no matter how frequently I post. This brought me a great deal of joy. In essence, you gave me reassurance that I should do what I wanted to do anyway.
I am going to continue the blog. I have renewed my support subscription with the web hosting service. For about $10 a month, I think I can afford to indulge myself. Regrettably, I probably spend at least that much a month on Disney swag that serves no purpose whatsoever. The cost is not a significant factor in making the decision. The real issues are time and fear. Your kind feedback has calmed the fear that I am ridiculous to think what I write might be interesting or helpful to anyone. After all, writing posts and sending them out to the blogosphere as if anyone cares is a bit self-absorbed. It would be easy to start taking one’s own perspectives way too seriously. You all have convinced me that I am relevant to someone other than myself.
The only other issue that remains a bit of an obstacle is time. I do want to spend more time in the future on my next book. I do not want to feel panicky because I am not making the progress I want to make on the book, the blog, church work, housework, friendships, prayer, and other projects. I do not want to feel like I must skip fun activities or outings because I am getting behind of my self-imposed responsibilities. They way to manage this problem, I think, is to let go of the need to post new blogs every week. I may or may not post new content every Wednesday. I think I probably will still post most weeks, but I am not going to make it a chore. If I do not have anything in my hopper of new posts, I will just skip a week. Thank you all for agreeing to keep reading anyway.
Many of you are already getting alerts when there is new content. If you are used to just checking every Wednesday and do not want to face the crushing disappointment of hopping on over one Wednesday to find nothing new, you can arrange to get email notifications when there is a new post. You can email me at terriretirement@gmail.com and I will put you on my mailing list. You can also allow the blog to do it automatically by becoming a subscriber. It is free. You will find the box to subscribe under the list of blog posting months. If you are looking at a computer screen, it is over to the right side (your right as you look at the screen). If you are looking a phone, you will need to scroll down all the way through the previous posts on the first page. There, you will find the list of months and the box to subscribe below the list. I hope that helps.
Again, thank you for sticking with me and helping me make this decision. You ROCK… and ROLL!
Have a great day!!
Terri/Dorry 😊
Thankful you are going to continue to write a blog when inspired. Many times they seem to speak to me personally. Glad you won’t be under an obligation to do it every week. We need more freedom of our time during these years.
Thanks, Betty!