Reflections for the New Year
Happy 2012!
I've been writing on this here blog for a full eleven months now, with my first post on January 28, 2011. I have posted every single weekday between now and then, come rain or shine, hell or high water, delicious meals or brain tumors.
When I first began this project, I intended for it to be something I'd do regularly for one full year, to test myself, my writing abilities, my stick-to-it-iveness. And since then, Dining and Opining has felt like a really central part of my life, something I look forward to as a way of cataloging my days and my thoughts on food. It has been a way of connecting with all of you readers (those who are my dear friends and those who've stumbled across this little project from elsewhere). It has been a way of putting my thoughts down, collecting my reflections in one place, recording all those little scraps of ideas and photos and foods.
And as the one year of this project comes to an end, I'm thinking a lot about what comes next. What does this blog look like on January 28, 2012, when I've fulfilled my pledge to myself to write every weekday for one full year? What next? Will I keep going? What form will my writing take? Or should I be done with it, and just let it stand as a year in my life?
I wonder all this because there are also moments when this little blog has been a burden. When I've wondered whether anyone is actually learning anything from this, whether the work I put into it is worth it, whether I might be better spending my time elsewhere, and whether I'm doing all this for the right reasons.
So, I'll keep thinking on this over the coming days, but would also love any thoughts that you all have to share.
Happy New Year!
I've been writing on this here blog for a full eleven months now, with my first post on January 28, 2011. I have posted every single weekday between now and then, come rain or shine, hell or high water, delicious meals or brain tumors.
When I first began this project, I intended for it to be something I'd do regularly for one full year, to test myself, my writing abilities, my stick-to-it-iveness. And since then, Dining and Opining has felt like a really central part of my life, something I look forward to as a way of cataloging my days and my thoughts on food. It has been a way of connecting with all of you readers (those who are my dear friends and those who've stumbled across this little project from elsewhere). It has been a way of putting my thoughts down, collecting my reflections in one place, recording all those little scraps of ideas and photos and foods.
And as the one year of this project comes to an end, I'm thinking a lot about what comes next. What does this blog look like on January 28, 2012, when I've fulfilled my pledge to myself to write every weekday for one full year? What next? Will I keep going? What form will my writing take? Or should I be done with it, and just let it stand as a year in my life?
I wonder all this because there are also moments when this little blog has been a burden. When I've wondered whether anyone is actually learning anything from this, whether the work I put into it is worth it, whether I might be better spending my time elsewhere, and whether I'm doing all this for the right reasons.
So, I'll keep thinking on this over the coming days, but would also love any thoughts that you all have to share.
- What do you get out of this blog?
- Should I keep going?
- If so, how might I modify my posting structure to make it more sustainable? Two posts a week--one on dining and one on opining? Random posting when the mood strikes me? Other ideas?
Happy New Year!
I like the two posts a week idea. Recipes and such are great, but I'd like to see more opining posts!
ReplyDeleteStill, I always enjoy reading D&O!
I like the two posts a week idea as well!
ReplyDeleteditto to the two-posts idea!
ReplyDeleteSorry, for some reason my RSS reader stopped reporting your posts at the end of 2011! I agree with the two post a week thing - in my own experience, without that kind of rule, it becomes tooooo easy to let everything slide. Slippery slopes and all, you know. D&O is too awesome to let that happen ^^
ReplyDeleteLiving far away, I don't do so much with the recipes, but I like seeing what sort of food-related events are going on there in Madison, and I like being introduced to aspects of food and food history that I otherwise would probably forever remain ignorant about.