No photos today.
No talk of pruning.
No witty banter.
You still with me? Good deal.
A few months ago I made a declaration that I was going to transform my yard into a sea of beautiful plantings and would throw a bash to celebrate my “grand re-opening”. You can read that post here. I even promised that it would be “epic”. I gave myself about a year and a half to pull it off since this was going to be massive and time consuming.
Well guess what? Shit ain’t happening. Not by a long shot.
Deep down, I think I knew I would never meet such a lofty goal, but hoped this blog would force me to work my arse off in order to actually pull it off. The pressure to perform would be enough of a driving force to keep me going throughout the spring, summer and fall.
Turns out is was more of an “epic fail” than anything “epic”.
Why did my big plan not come to fruition? The answer is obvious; good old fashioned lack of time.
With a full time (and then some) job, two young children involved in a variety of activities and a wife that I adore, there just isn’t the necessary amount of time to undertake such a project. And truthfully, that is a good thing. As a husband and father, I would be doing something seriously wrong if I had all that time on my hands.
Which brings me to my real point of discussion for today … this blog.
I’ve been writing the ONG for about two and a half years now, and it has been a blast. I’ve met a number of people both virtually and in person as a result of my garden writing and each and every one has been phenomenal.
I’ve learned a ton about how to write.
I’ve also learned how not to write.
I’ve gained knowledge on how to address plant issues or critter issues.
I’ve even learned how to attain better SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
I’ve taught myself a lot about photography and the use of light, shutter speed, etc.
But I’ve also allowed myself to become caught up in it all a bit too much.
I can only write, take photos and research my analytics before or after work each day or between baseball practice and dance practice on the weekends. That is a lot to cram in during my “down” time.
As a result, I don’t do a good job of responding to reader comments or reading other blogs or catching up on my favorite garden forums.
But worst of all, I find that I tune out my kids and wife too much in order to get it all done. I spend too much time analyzing my blog traffic when I should be playing with the kids or helping my wife research our future vacations. OK, it may not be as extreme as I’m making it out to be, but you get the point.
I’m not ready to give it all up. I enjoy the crafting of a post and the creativity that goes into it. I just need to dial it back a bit. A better balance if you will. After all, gardening is supposed to be a nice relaxing escape and I need to remind myself of that more often.
I can barely keep up with the weeds let alone promise to create some sort of masterpiece I’ve dreamed up in my head.
Thanks for listening and I’ll be back again … “somewhat” soon.
John
Not good analyzing your blog traffic, ONG! Don’t worry, we’ll all be looking forward to reading your posts when you can. Your family and garden are much more important than analyzing your blog traffic! Talk to you later. LVL
I understand. Gardening, blogging (unless you are being paid) is suppose to be enjoyable, restful, cathartic, not something you feel obligated to do. So, slow down, breathe and just enjoy the ride. Whether your yard is a showplace next year or in five years if you enjoy working in it…it is exactly what it is meant to be. I am the only one allowed to be obsessive here in bloggerland…..oh… obsessive is in the name of your blog. Sorry;) Bonnie
I had such goals at one time too, but thankfully learned the lesson that it’s supposed to be FUN…..and fun shouldn’t feel like yet another chore.
I’m glad you woke up to LIFE. Those kids of yours will be grown before you know it. Your wife and kids are number one priority. If you don’t make them that, they will be gone and all you’ll have is a lot of regret. So enjoy life and forget about keeping up with this and that.
Have a great summer—and PLAY BALL!
😀
Blogging can and does take time and energy. I have cut back myself with blogging and by adding no more gardens and life’s not as stressful. Your kids and your wife come first, everything else can take their turn in line.
Wishing you peace and joy as you stop to smell the roses with your sweet family.
FlowerLady
I made the same decision a while back, and I don’t regret it, at all. It really struck me that I needed to step back from blogging a bit when I’d be working out in the garden, finish something, and then get mad at myself for not taking pics of it so I could blog about it. More gardening, less blogging! 🙂
Screw the garden share the SEO info <|;-)
Family first. Garden second (unless the family relies on it for food.) Blog third. Can’t go wrong with that, and I believe most of us will understand.
-Ray
I really enjoy your blog, but I agree with everyone else. Write when you can, garden when you can, family first.
Congratulations John, You’re making the right decision.. I had that same reality check last July and changed my life completely, including quitting a job that was sucking the life out of me. Now, I write when I want to write, I enjoy my gardens, and more importantly, I enjoy my family too! Kudo’s to you.. 🙂
– Leslie
Absolutely! I got sucked in, too. I had no idea how much stress I put on myself to get a post done.
So just turn it off and take a deep breath and remember that there really is no fail- look at what you learned!
Go enjoy your family and have a great summer. The blog will wait for your return and so will we. 🙂
Life got in the way of gardening and blogging? What a shock! We will be here when you get back to the blog-o-sphere. Count on us giving you a yell when we go to New Jersey.
I completely empathize. Same scenario as you: full time job, wife, two kids, garden (much smaller than yours at that), my blog and other blogs and my other extracurricular activities. Forget about analytics, I hadn’t even started on that. I was going to give up on the blog completely but decided to just limit to myself to one post a week, more if I have the luxury of time. You’re not making a decision you will regret. You have your priorities in the right order, Enjoy your quality family time!