I like this post from artist and author Austin Kleon about how today’s mundane and boring items might become interesting in the future. It’s kind of how I’ve approached my blog for a while now. There’s nothing earth-shattering or click-worthy in my slice-of-life posts, but they may be of interest in the future, specifically to my descendants that I will never know.
Several years ago, I realized that I don’t know anything about my great grandparents besides their names, and it made sad. I would love to know how they lived… even reading some of their journal pages would be super-interesting to me! So perhaps one of my descendants would enjoy reading about our lives from the early 21st century.
In the spirit of this slice-of-life mindset, here’s a little video I made of my morning routine… putting away the dishes and making coffee in the company of our cat, Anko:
It’s the end of the year and as usual, many bloggers and vloggers are re-evaluating their blogs and channels. I’ve seen a few decide that what they are writing about is not adding value, or they feel like they don’t have anything new to write about. Others have found that they’ve reached a plateau in their number of followers and are frustrated that the growth has stopped.
And many of these bloggers/vloggers have decided to pause their activities during the holiday break while they decide if they will continue, re-focus, or quit. I can understand where they are coming from, and I think it’s fine to stop blogging of vlogging if it has become a burden, especially if it’s not your source of income. You shouldn’t feel guilty about losing the motivation or passion that once drove you to create content. People change, and if you force yourself to keep doing the same thing, you won’t grow and you’ll get frustrated.
I’ve actually never done the end-of-year evaluation. I’ve been blogging off-and-on since 2000, and I’ve been posting daily for a couple years now. I suppose the reason why this blog has been going for so long is that I don’t have any long-term goals for it, other than to document my daily life. And my daily life isn’t filled with profound realizations, amazing tips & tricks, or other marketable lifehacks. I just write about anything that strikes my fancy. Sometimes it’s helpful to others, but most of the time, it’s of limited value. I know I won’t make any significant money blogging this way, but I have fun writing, learning about WordPress, affiliate ads, and SEO. And what’s nice is that it takes almost no special effort to do so. That’s because it’s become a habit every night. I never find myself forcing myself to blog… it just happens. And sometimes if I don’t get around to writing that night, I’ll just write two the next day, or simply post a photo. It’s really not worth stressing over.
I said I don’t have any long-term goals for this blog, and it’s true. I blog without trying to gain followers, improve SEO, or make money. Or if I do, it’s just for entertainment. But I do achieve my short-term goal each day, which is to write a little bit and post a photo, which keeps my brain sharp. Those small achievements add up, I believe, and create a sense of wellbeing and a healthy mind.
But for those bloggers who have more invested in their blogs, and perhaps a financial interest in having a profitable blog/channel, you have my respect and support! And I hope you all have a successful 2019!
In the spirit of including a photo in my daily post, here’s a random pic of items on my desk.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO1000 “Desk Items” Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/220 sec, ISO200 “First Band Performance” Cedar Park, 2018
Koa started his high school band performance career today with a show for the band parents at the football stadium this evening. It was cool to watch them really get into their performance.
The percussion section (of which Koa is a part of) is always having fun. Because of the size of the instruments, they don’t march with the rest of the band, but are instead situated right in the front, hence the name “front ensemble”. And because they aren’t marching, they get to bob their heads and get into the groove. I suppose it would hard to stand still anyways, being in percussion after all! And it’s a lot of fun to watch them all enjoying themselves. In Koa’s words, “Oh yeah, we’re always having fun up there.”
In blogging-related news, I read an article that talks about the importance of writing using a pen and paper instead of typing on the keyboard, and how that physical activity can stimulate creativity. So that is what I am starting to do now. But, dang, my hand hurts! I gotta get used to this…
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO2500 “Writing” Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO800 “2017.10.10 Sketch” Cedar Park, 2017
こんばんは。Tonight I did this little sketch. I’m satisfied but not satisfied with it. Satisfied because I think I made progress and identified a lot of things I have no idea how to do. But not satisfied because it looks a bit “off” to me. But, as the first one like this, I’m more happy than not. And I had a lot of fun sketching it!
In other news, I was informed by good ol’ WordPress that it’s been 11 years since I joined WordPress.com. I’m not exactly sure when I started using WordPress as my blogging platform, but I’ll enjoy the award nonetheless. 😀
To see all the sketches I’ve been working on, you can check out the Flickr album “My Sketching Journey”, or my Instagram account barron.sketches which I created just for posting sketches, watercolors, and stationery items.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/1500 sec, ISO200 “Low” Cedar Park, 2016
こんばんは！How’s it going?
So, I’ve been looking back at my Instagram feed and I noticed that half my photos lately have been of clouds. ☁ As you may know, I am taking part in a 365 project, which is where you take one photo 📸 per day for a whole year 🗓. So, there is a little bit of pressure to find a subject to shoot each day.
And clouds are an easy subject to capture, especially if there are really nice ones hanging around in the sky. Part of me is thinking that I am just not looking hard enough for other subjects to shoot, but another part of me thinks that clouds are so cool-looking, ever-changing, and fascinating that I need to make photos of them.
My kids know that I am kind of obsessed… when we are driving I might hand the camera to one of them and ask them to take a photo. Luckily for me, they haven’t been too annoyed. In fact, I think Koa might have gotten the cloud bug as well! This afternoon as we were driving home, he pulled out his phone to take a photo of the “cool” clouds. 😄
I think I’ve come to terms with taking cloud photos… I’ll continue without hesitation since I just love them. Why not?
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In other news, I saw this notification pop up in WordPress saying I have earned a new achievement:
Pretty funny, huh! WordPress has its own social network of bloggers, and it’s fun to read and “like” posts. It’s similar to “liking” on Instagram, but instead of pictures, they are blog posts. Anyways, it was kind of fun to get this notification. ☺️
I hope you had a nice Wednesday!
おやすみなさい！
– B
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My camera & photos
I use a Fujifilm X-series camera for most of the photos on this site and my Instagram. Why not pick one up for yourself?
