Obligation, Obsession, and Addiction
I’m taking a Blog-Break.
For over a year I’ve been updating the journal on a daily basis…and yesterday, as I was sitting here thinking "oh, I need to blog" I realized… I DON’T need to blog. I don’t need to do anything.
I do like the whole writing exercise of taking time out of the day and jotting down what I’m thinking even when my mind is blank. The sad truth? I like to write, even if I may not be the best at doing it. God knows, I make enough typos and grammar mistakes. 
So what’s this post all about Alfie? Well…what I’m thinking is, that I’m going to cut back on blogging. Perhaps weekly? Maybe I’ll do 4 days in a row …and then nothing for a week. I just don’t know… I’m just going to wing it from now on.
What I do know is that I’m starting to feel an obligation…obsession…addiction to public journaling. Sadly, I stumble through my day and if something strikes me, my immediate thought is "I’m so blogging this tomorrow". My guess is, most bloggers go through this too.
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Obligation? It seems the more I write, the more the website goes up in rank. I set a goal to get the site under #100,000 at Alexa.com. It’s well exceeded that mark… and as of now, it’s #75,850. [Not too shabby considering I was at like 4 million a few years ago] All this leads me to:
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Obsession. I am now to the point where I’m a little worried to STOP. So I’ll admit I’m competitive and I like to work for being the best at whatever I do. I doubt many people set out to do something badly, but I get to be borderline compulsive about things. The same goes for playing hockey, tennis..and music. And I’ll be the 1st to admit I have a highly …
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Addictive personality. So now that I’ve psychoanalyzed myself, I’ve realized that a 12 Step Blogging Program might not be such a bad thing. And so…I’m taking the 1st step by admitting it. The 2nd step for me is to CUT BACK.
I know all this will make the site’s rank fall…and that’s ok. The site counter shows I average about 400 unique visits a day [which doesn't count the people who have the RSS in their newsreaders]…I know that’ll all drop. That too is ok.
Hell…maybe I’ll refocus my energy and just write a book…make a movie…finish the next CD…all of the above.
I hold back quite a bit on the blog anyway and open up much more in music[perhaps it's because I can hide secret meanings in songs]. Someone once emailed me saying that reading my journal was a sort of "Reality TV Blog" and that I expose myself for all to read….but in all seriousness, I try not to talk about anything TOO personal.
So before this entry turns into the never-ending post about nothing. Let me put a cork in it. To be continued…whenever. End of Season 1.
Of course…I might wake up tomorrow and think "what the hell was I posting about yesterday?" 
We’ll call that a blogging relapse.
I think you should google “Blogger’s Anonymous.” Quite informative. Since I don’t blog, I can say that it talks all about you crazy people who feel the need to blog. I tried googling “Blog Groupie” and there was nothing. So, for people like myself who need to read and respond to blogs, I guess there is no hope unless you bloggers quit blogging….and we know that will be a cold day in hell when that happens!! We’re both DOOMED!
i’m pretty sure there will always be some blog to read
[stands up]
*Hi my name is Bob and I’m a Blog Addict*
Step 4 is gonna SUCK!
“Hello. My name is Val and I’m a blog groupie.”
*Blog Groupie*
wonder if there’s a website called bloggroupie.com
Future VH1 “Behind the music”:
And things were going well for Bob Gentry until he got addicted to blogging. The dangerous blogging habit was taking a toll on Bob.
(Face hidden to hide identity): Bob wouldn’t eat, drink, or sleep. He didn’t even want to have sex anymore. All he wanted to do was blog…
hahahaha…yeah….i’ll be happy to be on one of the Behind the Music things
There is no escape. Forever… never ending.
All part of life online huh?:neutral:
Sad really. I think it’s called, “Get a life!”
better to get someone else’s life ;):mrgreen:
That’s the way to take charge, life is too short to do shit you don’t have to do!
yeah…i might feel different tomorrow but right now i’m just a little cranky
Grrrrr 
One more blog entry for the road Bob…..go on! it wont hurt you…..:twisted:…..what’s the harm in just one more little blog entry……do it Bob…you know you what to!
:wink::lol:
Ha! does this make you a Blog Pusher?
I’ll keep doing more….i just wana take a break is all…to detox
There is no release.
I think you might be right about that…. I’m starting to feel like the guy who unlocked the cube in the *Hellraiser* movie. (waiting for PinHead to enter the room now)
Well, the scary thing is that you feel addicted - updates on a daily basis aren’t even THAT geeky or hardcore.
Therefore I don’t think you should decrease the number of entries but your “emotional relation” to your blog. Just limit the time you spend on your blog - say 20-30 minutes a day should be sufficient to write an entry. My next guess is taht you keep checking your mail for new comments as soon as you wrote a new entry stop doing that too frequently! Two or three times a day should do it.
Set yourself achievable goals like that you will be able to maintain your blog while feeling alot more “independent” from it. Next thing you know you will loose that NEED for blogging and might just do a whole day of not posting without having to apologize the day afterwards. Because we’re all happy to hear from you each day but if we don’t - well, we just don’t. It’s OK!
Hopefully, you find something of the stuff I wrote above useful. I don’t want to tell you what you need to do - I am certainly not in a place to do so - but it’s what me helped me not with my blog, which I don’t really have an addiction for but I was formerly addicted to playing too many online games, which similar rules applied to.
Anyways, have a nice Sunday!
It send me me an email when a comment comes in and i’m usually most of the nights doing other things online…so it’s really not so much trouble…i enjoy the interaction as well.
I’ll probably cut back on that too…
not that i’m complaining …i do enjoy it. Sometimes it’s just a little hard to keep up…add to that a daily amount of email…it can be tricky to juggle.
i’ll be fine with it…mainly I think I was just expecting too much from myself.
i’ll wing things this week and see how I feel …mainly…i’m not going to write anymore because I feel I have to….just when I want to
I don’t think any of your regular readers are going to stop because you don’t write every day. I myself don’t read every day - usually 1-2x a week & I just catch up. Just think of your blog as a way to vent what you want when you want…to people who actually WANT to hear it:grin:
I was thinking the same thing…(i’m hopeful)
I check other journals and podcasts bout once a week…maybe more if I get the time…but there’s just so many that it’s hard to read and hear every single thing.
I have the little blog mailing list so if people really want to know the second I do blog, they can just sign uo for that if they like
how’s Michigan life?
I tried to do a 12 step blogging program once…but I got so bored with no feedback that I stopped at step #2.
But you really should do it just when you want, so you don’t get all STALE-ish & stuff. Not that you are. Those of us who are loyal
stalkersfans will come see you anyway.yeah…i was *not* going to do it today but i sort of felt the need to say a thanks to Chris for the interview and plug …so i just gave one back
I CAN’T STOP 
Bob..
To get over your angst, maybe you should have “Guest” bloggers - people you trust and will keep yours goins as they get into the blogging life… Should be fun too.. “What do we think of Bob or Bob’s music or ?” for the first topic..
hmm…guest blogger…now that might be sort of fun.
I’m trying to figure out how that’d work ..could be interesting though
You expess yourself through music, which is fantastic and perhaps blogging is not so important to you as some. I don’t have your talent. I’m disabled and all that I hoped for in life was stolen from me by…well, let’s just say, unfortunate events happen.
I learnt how to do things in diffent ways and mant things I once could do, are gone…but that doesn’t mean life stops. It just makes you wonder what other worths you have and how to use it.
My accident (uh hummm…I say that to be nice), has taught me many valuable lessons like not taking simple things for granted.
Thinks that I once gave no thought so, are full of meaning and it’s the small little blessing that cone into your life that many overlook.
I blog to be heard. I believe I have a purpose now and between my website and my blog, I fight a good fight for what I believe.
If I could be on the front lines I can’t, because of my disabilities, so I do in a way I can…and that is to blog and to homepage.
If interested, please visit my homepage at DEFEND-A-BULL http://www.defend-a-bull.com/ I’m not selling anything but hoping to educate.
Don’t stop blogging. It’s a great outlet.
Hi Conners! Sorry for the late reply…I had the family in town and am just able ot get back to emails…i’ll pop in on your sites for sure and say a “howdy” there
I like the Defend the Bull site! I’m a huge animal advocate…specially dogs.
I look forward t reading your blog
hug!
Based on your “12-step blogging program,” it sounds like you are getting in tune with yourself and ready to limit your dependence on blogging.
I think we have to somehow learn how to balance our online lives with our lives outside of cyberspace. Sadly, many people engrossed with the Internet haven’t learned this and have, as a result, become so enamored with their online activities that their lives, especially their relationships, have become dysfunctional.
My 2 cents
DenMan7
http://www.alcoholism-information.com
Hi Denny..thanks for commmenting…as you can see…this was blogged back in 2005 (over a year ago) and i’ve still not cut back…i guess it IS never-ending