Filed under: Placeless, Spaceless | Tags: blogging, Creative Genius, Elizabeth Gilbert Lecture, Making Money Online
An increasing amount of my time is spent blogging or researching topics to blog about.
Why?
What possesses me to spend valuable hours pouring out political analysis, personal confessions and private recommendations to an average audience of three unique users a day?
Is it to get rich? I’m am starting to realise that the answer can only be: NO.
As Daniel Lyons of Newsweek pointed out recently in a piece entitled ‘Growing Rich by Blogging is a High-Tech Fairy-Tale,’ the notion that blogs are money-making enterprises is illusory and pie-in-the-sky. Lyons points out that even in his record-breaking month where a whopping 1.5 million people visited his blog, the total earnings from Google’s AdSense revenue was a measly $1039.81.
So why do it?
Is it for the self-expression? Maybe.
As I read back over my blogs for 2007 I do notice how the subjects upon which I blogged about became my reality. My self-confessions about disillusionment in my profession, worries about alcoholism, and ‘fantasy new years resolutions’ have all received much-needed attention and fulfillment through their expression.
But what of my recent trend towards writing political analysis?
If I am purportedly not seeking money or self-expression for these nuggets of enlightenment that I spew out into the blogosphere, then what for?
I have to admit I don’t know, yet.
But a talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of best-seller “Eat, Pray, Love” on creativity and the need to ‘nuture’ genius within ourselves might go some way to explaining it. The video comes courtesy of TED, Ideas Worth Spreading.
