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I wanted to add to my last post and say that most of the blogs we/I read are the PR version of the blogger’s life, in that they are a collection of the most interesting bits of their day-to-day lives. There are many of us who talk about the personal and creative challenges that we face, and how we are working to overcome them, but there’s still an awful lot of stuff we keep to ourselves, understandably. I wanted to mention this because i often forget that this is the case when reading others’ blogs. The face you present to the world can often look very appealing when viewed without the context of the rest of your life, the mundane boring stuff that’s only witnessed by you and the four walls around you, the worries that keep you awake at night.
Anyway, slimming down my blog reading has definitely had a positive impact on the mood and tone of my mornings so I’m going to continue to be mindful of what my head ingests. Now I’ve noticed the blogging energy drain I’m starting to see the other ways I hemorrhage energy during the day – i’m trying weekly rather than daily newspaper reading, turning off email during the day (unless I need it for work) and am generally spending less time online.
I’m chipping away at this block and while some days I seem to have the world’s smallest chisel, I’m following the breadcrumbs and finding my way back.
the 
We’ve just cancelled the newspaper too – it’s just too sad and sometimes my filter doesn’t work so well. Focusing on what’s good in life helps.
Thank you for both of these last 2 posts. I too have been feeling the same way about similar things. Sometimes you do just have to step back and only take in what you need to take in and simply leave the rest.(I do hope that makes sense)
Sending you many warm fuzzy hugs.
Love Toni
i think you are incredibly brave to be taking these steps, and so i want to say bravo for you. i say you are brave because shutting off the noise of more and more blogs (and the voices they put in your head about your own value and worth) and toning down the newspaper consumption and e-mail addiction is just plain hard. it means leaving tons of room for . . . well, yourself. your own thoughts. your own creativity. what’s inside. and not depending on these outside sources to be the things that fill up the minutes of your days.
i have been exploring the quiet more in my life — and by this i mean being really honest about how much content i consume via computer in my waking moments and taking a brave step in the direction of shutting the computer and just sitting with the quiet to see what emerges — and it is really hard. i only lasted a few days with this, but i’m trying to take it in baby steps.
i was just thinking of you and your previous post earlier this evening, wondering if i could get up enough courage to unsubscribe from some of the miscellaneous blogs i’ve collected in recent months — blogs that i don’t even really enjoy but just keep following to ensure that i have something to do while i wait for my favorite bloggers to post new content. really, it was a moment of real honesty with myself today: realizing that the only reason i don’t unsubscribe is because i want to have some diversion.
anyway, i’ve written a book here, and i’m sorry for that. but you are inspiring me in all of this, and i hope to take more baby steps in this coming week.
blessings.
thank you for these recent posts, Susannah…for giving voice to something(s) that i, too, have been navigating. thinking of you.
sending love & a warm embrace,
gem
Glad to hear you are finding your way, following the breadcrumbs! ;)
I too have cleaned out my bloglines and it’s made a significant difference.
I tell myself daily, that we get a sliver of what is reality for every blog we read, even the blogs that are written from the heart.
I feel that I’m pretty open and revealing on my own blog and yet, there is SO much more that doesn’t make it there; it’s a good reality check for me when I start to wallow and feel bad about myself.
I find myself clicking on more when I’m depressed or feeling down about myself. I guess it’s been a sure-fire way to continue to beat myself up, especially the bloggers that seem to have it all together, compared to me.
i did a complete refresh of my feed reader and knocked off hundreds of blogs, it feels so good. and yes, i was thinking that as well, the PR version, i like it. obviously, we all don’t write about all the crappy little details of our life or show photos of spilled juice in our fridge that has been sitting there hidden sticking to milk cartons for a month now waiting to be cleaned. or is that just me? ;-)
anyway, it all feels more manageable now and somehow i am learning perspective on it all, with a little help from other beautiful bloggers who are bravely exploring their thoughts and helping me to clarify mine.
smooches beauty!
It is what it is.
And that is great!
The only person you need to take care of is YOURSELF…
and just sometimes we would like to help you do that xx
SO proud of you! You make me smile – you may feel a bit overwhelmed but if you read back through your posts you are definitely moving forward!!!
You ARE doing it!
xo
I’d really recommend the ‘reading deprivation’ exercise which is in the Artists Way. Giving up news is fantastic even for a week.
I do find that my consumption of reading is in direct connection to how much I want to avoid myself.
No newspapers. No TV news. Only select blogs whose authors have touched me in some way. Like yours.
Keep it sweet. Keep it clean. Keep it loving.
You’re my super hero…. :)
Gosh, I can so relate to this and the last post. I have long had the sneaky suspicion that I am actually addicted to blogging, I am sure there is a term for this somewhere, like BAS (Blogging Addiction Syndrome)! Blogging has become such a mixture of pleasure and inspiration, envy and guilt. It also makes me live in my head too much and that is never good. You know how you feel when you declutter your physical space, I guess the same is true for your virtual space. You have expressed it all beautifully.
I think you are so right. It’s easy – not just in blogs but in life – to see only a tiny part of someone’s life. Which is why it’s particularly sad when people feel they have no right to be unhappy because they have so much compared to other people. But I have been thinking more and more myself that I need to be more engaged with real life. It’s easy to sit at my laptop and explore the world but actually going out and sitting on a park bench (which I did yesterday) makes me see much more. Hmmm, sometimes smaller is bigger.
I, too, have cut back on my time online. But for some reason, I keep coming back here — to your little cozy spot on the web. You are so inspirational. Your photography is real and full of life. Your writing is beautiful and reminds us that though life is hard, the fight is worth fighting, every second. You just ooze with talent! Thank you for sharing it with everyone :)
I think a small chisel is better, because you can focus on each detail one bit at a time instead of overwhelming yourself with grand plans and drastic changes. I love you.
you go girl!