Wherein Blogging Resembles Life

Long ago, I resolved that a certain two-word announcement would never be written on any blog of mine [think: first person singular pronoun contracted with a linking verb + indication of having returned from an absence].

Of course, the most obvious key to keeping said resolution was simply to post regularly. But having failed in this respect, I shall still refuse to tap out those two words which but admit to the reading world search engines that the blog is dying: yes, the blogger still remembers his password; no, he has nothing meaningful to say.

End melodrama. Begin introspection.

I won't pretend that blogging is one of the more important disciplines of life (though I do find it a helpful one). Nonetheless, thinking about the relatively unimportant "neglect of blog" problem led to parallel thoughts about greater issues of life.

Neglect is rarely born out of total forgetfulness. If anything, total forgetfulness is just one of the products of neglect.

I never totally forgot about blogging. Every week or so I would think of sitting down to write, my thoughts morphing from "It's been a little while... maybe today" to "It's been a while... maybe tomorrow" to "It's been a long while... one of these weeks." Yet as more time passed since I last posted, forgetfulness increased. As the typing of thoughts moved further from my actions, it also moved further from my mind.

Moreover, one might think that motivation to write would increase with time. But no–not writing is easiest once one has begun the habit of not writing. And the more I grow in this new habit of not writing, the more it seems that I need a bigger, better, more impressive reason to actually decide again to write.

Writing: I just never got around to it. And so thoughts of getting around to it became more infrequent. And then, when thoughts did come around, they were crushed by the mounting criteria for a worthwhile return post.

What else in my life do I treat like a blog?

The desk I have had intended to organize? (Is it really worth it if I might not be able to keep it up permanently?)

The friend I meant to stay in contact with and have been meaning to call since... how long? (But after such a long silence, don't I need a particular reason to suddenly make a phone call?)

The plan for regular Scripture memorization that I've wanted to set? (But it's so much easier to be consistent with the current no-plan while I continue my search for the perfect plan.)