I haven’t published a new blog post in four months. Nor have I updated my incoming reports in almost a year, which means you’re missing the Michael Bay-drama of my site portfolio falling and rising since last fall.
I wish I could tell you that over the last four months, my sites A-bombed in popularity, I was invited to contribute to The New York Times, and I’ve spent the last six weeks snorkeling in the Florida keys; hence, no time to post! So long, suckas!
The truth is somewhat less Hallmark-worthy. I left my job, went to school, started a business. My family battled a health scare. I gained 8 pounds (and then lost it). I hung out with my nieces and nephews and cemented my podium spot as “funcle Andy.” In short, life happened.
And my sites, like a trail horse that has traversed the same dirt rut circuit for three years straight, kept plodding. If blogging’s weakness is that momentum takes so long to generate, at least that same momentum keeps spinning when I take my hands off the wheel. It’s like digital cruise control.
Like clockwork, about $800/month is deposited into my checking account. Not exactly FU money … but if a dripping faucet can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water a year, then $800 a month isn’t anything to complain about!
On the one hand, I’m disappointed I haven’t achieved more. My sites have flatlined since last winter, and now this winter’s Farmers Almanac predictions are already polluting my Facebook feed. My WordPress plugins all need to be updated. I’ve missed outreach and roundup opportunities. I’ve neglected my wards. Yes, time flies, and no, I’m not where I’d like to be.
On the other hand … isn’t it wonderful that I can take half the year off, and my sites are still here? That life can happen, and I can travel 12,000 miles around the country, and when I get back, guess what’s waiting in my office corner?
I’m not advocating laziness. I’m not advocating site abandonment. (Do as I say, not as I do.) But if you’re reading this, and life just happened to you, too – don’t give up. Don’t berate yourself. Just gently steer your vessel back on course. And perhaps, with a slight blush coloring your cheeks, remind yourself, as the anonymous saying goes, “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle!”
