I’m a bit late with this, but here are my answers to the “Getting to Know You” questions for this week.
I don’t usually answer these, but this one interests me.
When did you begin your first blog and what inspired you to do so?
I started this blog in February of 2003. I was quite depressed at the time after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was working through a lot of personal issues, so I was using blogging as a way to journal and record my thoughts. As I began to feel better I started to blog about those inspirations that were helping me in my search to rebuild myself, particularly Taoist writings and thoughts. Now sometimes people even say in the comments that they are inspired by the quotes and inspirations I post here. My current readings tend to be about yoga and yoga philosophy.
But mostly people want to see pictures of my puppy Darwin. Here’s Darwin as a swami:
Do you have more than one blog? Why? How are they different?
Yes, actually, I do. Along with this blog, I have a blog called Native Growers that is about native plants. I’m not very good about updating it, though. Initially this blog was going to be a website for connecting those interested in growing native plants with landscape designers and native plant nurseries, but that business never took off. I used to get ideas for businesses a lot and sometimes have acted on them. I’m great at ideas but lousy at follow through. And now that I’m no longer going into manic phases, I don’t start new projects as often.
I also started other blogs here and there, but this is the one I keep returning to and showing up for. Having my name on feels more obligating, I guess.
How would you characterize your blog?
Creative
Political
Informational
Community-oriented
Or something else?
Yes.
To paraphrase Oprah, what is “one thing you know for sure” about blogging?
It’s different for everyone, and everyone’s experience of it is unique.
Is it important to you to get feedback in terms of comments or pings? Why or why not?
Well, yes and no. It’s good to get other’s comments and feedback and I enjoy that tremendously. But i don’t live or die by it. I know most people will read and move along and not care to comment, and that’s ok. I appreciate all of those who do share their thoughts, of course.
What 3 blogs would you recommend to our readers and why?
Wow, that’s hard. I read so many and most of them are on my sidebar, so pick three and visit. They are all interesting, fun, enjoyable and informative. The ones I visit most often are Americablog for political news, The Big Picture for economic news, and Time Goes By for just plain great writing and news about aging. My reading covers a huge range of topics and interests though, and all of my links are wondrous and fabulous in their own way.
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