Over the last couple of years, as I’ve slowed down on developing content on here, I’ve come to appreciate that some of my older pieces have still somehow managed to find an audience. To those of you who have remarked on a piece at a conference or pinged me on social media or have assigned my work in a class, thank you! It’s refreshing to know that people besides my Mom are reading this. (It’s also nice to know that my Mom is reading this too 😉 !)
For me the slow down has been important for a couple of reasons. Yes, I’ve had the privilege of getting to publish my work in a lot of other venues. And I’m in a much different place personally and professionally than I was 12 years ago when I started blogging.
All that said, one of the major reasons why I haven’t written as much here is that there are lot of other people creating content elsewhere. Because of that I get to spend more time reading things that inspire and challenge me. I also read things that make me want to get as far away from the internet as possible.
And somewhere in-between I had the realization that, contrary to popular belief, the internet isn’t just about generating original content that demonstrates influence or raises one’s clout. The web need not be worldwide; and our time in it, world dominating. I’m here for the small internet, where a niche of people find what they’re looking for–whether they were looking for it or not. And for me this has involved what Kelly J. Baker has called “the cold take,” and C. Travis Webb describes as “intellectual intimacy.”
So if I go awhile with out posting something on here, it might be because I’m busy writing elsewhere. It also may be that I’m busy listening or reading. It’s taken a dozen years for me to figure out that quiet may be just as important to the health of a space like this.
I don’t plan on having this site go away any time soon. I haven’t stopped creating things for it, and I even have some all new things coming out on it in the future. It’s just everything has it’s season.
One thing I want to do in 2020 is nurture that quiet better. So in addition to the posting new things when I have new things to say, I’m going to share links and brief reflections on things that I’m reading, watching, or listening to behind the scenes. I’m also going to try and share clippings of things I’ve written elsewhere so that you can find them here and there.
I think all of this will make for a better, smaller internet, that this site has really always been about.
Sowing the Seed 