ON READING FAVORITE BLOGS

Isn’t it fun to follow blogs that hold significance and satisfaction? Of course, for me that would include blogs of my family, when those are posted. However the lives of my immediate are busy and each remarks that finding the time (and topic) to post is a challenge. Or maybe it’s sometimes a matter of priorities. Or a computer breaks down. Or a hard-drive self-destructs. Or another “social media” site calls more strongly to them (I miss out ‘cause I don’t go there!).Or family crises arise! All of these are hindering someone in my blog-life right now.

If I had my druthers, everyone I love – especially family – would post a little something every day, sort of like “checking in” with their lives and thoughts and share what’s keeping them busy and what’s on their minds. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. That’s part of what those “social media” sites claim to be about. Personally, I prefer, and trust, the blog sites more. So once or twice a day I keep lookin’ to see whether any of my own has posted. When someone has, it’s a special moment for me.

Other than family, I regularly follow fewer than a dozen other specific sites, and only half of those are bloggers. Most are special friends. A few are precious individuals who only post a couple of times a year (Bummer!). And that leaves two or three sites that are important to me for my own reasons. For example, being “hobby poor”. I have dozens of former pursuits, dormant interests, and intriguing fields of interest I continue to track because of life-long passion or enduring curiosity, or a current lack of opportunity. So I have found a few neat places on line to keep those interests simmering on the back burners of my mind, to rewarm a metaphor or two.

One of my favorite bloggers is currently inactive because of a family crisis. I don’t have any confirmed details at all, except it seems that this individual has taken on a caregiver’s role for a loved one and consequently, among other disruptions, has had to temporarily abandon publishing a fascinating and artistic blog. I know I may be reading much more into the situation than is justified, but bear with me. I know that putting off a satisfying and creative endeavor in behalf of a higher and much more urgent calling is willingly done. Nevertheless, there is a sense of loss and distraction to manage until it becomes possible to once again take up that former effort to which one has been dedicated with great passion. In this case the only hint I have to work with is the mention of a medical condition which if confirmed would certainly be life threatening. When such tragedy strikes, whole families experience turmoil and each individual – whether spouse, child, or other – faces a sometimes prolonged period of adaptation and compromise. Meanwhile one passion replaces another and the blog languishes.

[BTW, In this case, so vaguely described, please join me in praying for the one afflicted, the ones thrust into caregiving roles, the disruptions of life thus caused to families, and someday for a happy return to the former joys of life.]

Conclusion? Well, I’m not sure. I probably had you in mind if your computer is currently acting goofy, if your hard-drive is being rescued, if your car is in the shop, if you are out of place and life is out of joint, if your current schedule is way too busy, if Murphy has been your recent companion, if you are un/or/under/employed, if parenting is presently a puzzle, if your mattress just broke another spring, if you are struggling with a chronic health condition.

In any of those cases, OR if you are enjoying a neat string of blessings, if you feel like you somehow just won some sort of lottery, if recent days have been filled with happiness and thoughtful friends, if a nagging problem has been neatly resolved, well… Do this:

Blog it. I’d love to read all about it. Writing about it will help you feel better, and some of the rest of us can come alongside and lend a little support.