As you have probably noticed things have changed around here a bit. The changes aren't only cosmetic and technical, I feel like they go deeper than that.
Andrew Jones, blogger extraordinaire, has been on sabbatical for the month of September. His last blog post was August 31 in which he outlined why he was taking a break from blogging. Some of which I identified with.
- Because my blog is old and tired and not nearly as much fun as it used to be. I want to be re-inspired and invigorated.
- Because I have an idea of how blogging should be and I want my blog to catch up to my vision.
- Because I have been SELFISH in my blogging recently, concerned with building my own blog and tracking my own progress rather than being a resource on other people's blogs.
- Because the quality of my blog posts has decayed and I am posting fewer poetic posts [a sign of good spiritual health] and fewer thoughtful theological/missiological posts [a sign of rigorous thinking in my head] and I need to raise the bar.
- Because I have become infatuated [again] with my stats and my blog authority and google-ranking - a form of idolatry and narcissism that can only be harmful.
Don't get me wrong, I hardly put myself in the same class as Mr. Jones. He is a very influential person, not only in the blogosphere, but also in the emerging church. Some of the things he said though really resonated with me. I felt like the time had come for me to reexamine my own blogging and whether it was fulfilling a useful purpose or stroking my ego.
Writing my first book was a great experience for me, despite all it's warts and foibles. I want to write more and I want my blog to be part of that. I am going to explore and examine thoughts and ideas on here that I plan to later include in a book of some sort. By writing them here, it will help me figure out what is worth exploring more and what I have taken as far as it can go. Most of all, I want to get back to writing like I did when I first started blogging. I want to be as honest and transparent as possible without giving my stats or Technorati ranking a thought.
hey - i am just a blogger like you.
glad to hear of your re-commitment to the media.
pray for me that i might also write my first book . ..
Posted by: andrew | October 03, 2006 at 04:35 AM
Thanks for comment Andrew. I will pray that you write that book. I would certainly be interested in reading it.
Posted by: Paul Connors | October 03, 2006 at 05:34 PM