Stepping back a bit

Sometimes in life one has to reassess where things are going. The last few weeks have been one of those times.

So far, 2009 has been a tumultuous but exciting year for me. I now have both personal and professional opportunities I never thought I’d have just a few short months ago when I celebrated monoblogue’s anniversary number three.

Over most of the last ten months I’ve made an effort to post about 10-12 times a week, which becomes quite a time investment when you think about it because my posts can take me anywhere from 15 minutes to 3 hours to write, depending on type and how much research I have to do.

However, with these opportunities both personally and professionally, plus the fact I have a responsibility to provide content on two sites (and occasionally a third) plus oversee a blogging group – I think I’m starting to spread myself too thin and the quantity of what I was writing was beginning to outstrip the quality of what I placed here. That’s not what I want my site to be known for.

Then you add in the chaos and just plain bad blood that is the fare du jour on the local blogging scene, and maybe it is time to give myself just a slightly lower profile for now. I am grateful to the Salisbury Grinch for offering me an opportunity to contribute to his site, but I declined his offer. There are those who are attempting to bring more civility among local bloggers, but for my part I won’t believe this effort is honest until I see an apology from one particular blogger to another very talented one who used to be in the game. Both players know who they are, no need to repeat that here.

So you may come here on a particular day and find that I haven’t put up a post yet. The next few weeks will be a definite time for transition for me as I embark on a new line of work. I decided living on the Eastern Shore was more important to me than staying in my particular field, at least for the time being – that door of my original avocation has been left slightly ajar behind me. (And I know at least one person who appreciates my choice.)

Aside from Christmas Day, I think I’m running a streak of maybe 2 years or so without missing a posting day. Like Cal Ripken, there comes a time when you come to the conclusion that it’s time to let your life govern the streak rather than the streak governing your life. And that time has come for me.

That’s not to say I’m disappearing, just taking control. Yes, my readership may suffer a bit and I may slide down on the BlogNetNews rankings a spot or three, but I’m not going anywhere. The people who enjoy what I write will patiently wait a bit longer between fixes. There may still be days I’m inspired enough to write two posts but I’m going to take the occasional day off too.

Those who read my site know I’m a huge advocate of personal freedom. Today I’m taking the opportunity to free up my talents and time. I could’ve just stopped writing for a few days and wonder if anyone noticed, but that’s not how I operate. I have more appreciation for my readers than that so they deserve to know that I’ll go back to about one post per day.

So there you have it. I look forward to this new and improved philosophy of quality rather than quantity. If people can handle someone like Ann Coulter or Mark Steyn writing once or twice a week, maybe they can deal with me on a less breakneck pace too.

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer. View all posts by Michael