The need to blog: should we worry?

Is the pressure to write new and exciting blog entries causing you stress?



Do you feel obligated to post daily, or even hourly, to your blog?



That concern for our readers is a commonly held, yet not often addressed issue for all bloggers. There are days when every blogging person would just as soon not post a thing.



Nothing. Nada. Zilch.



It's okay folks. You can take days off from your blog. Sometimes stepping back, and not posting will help to keep your thoughts and ideas fresh and interesting. It may be better for you and your readers to have no post, than a worthless one.



My friend David at his fine Swagu blog has addressed the issue of "blog pressure" very eloquently. He discusses openly the sense of being stressed.



Like many bloggers before him (and certainly afterwards too!), David has felt the obligation to provide content for his readers. Because of that sense of duty to his regulars, he has found himself feeling stressed to write new posts.



Blogs become entwined with their writers, whether we realize it or not. Many of the most popular blogs (of which neither of mine are included) are simply the name of the blogger. Some blogs have other formal titles, but they are associated with the writer's name regardless.



Sometimes you may sense you have become a blog entry too!



We do feel the need, and often that means pressure, to fulfil an unwritten yet very binding contract with our readers. We know that when people surf over to read our latest posts, they are looking forward to something new. I hesitate to say exciting, but at least we hope to be interesting or informative.



That requirement we feel, to say something...anything... is a real responsibility.



Since I rarely miss a day of blogging on my two blogs, I succumbed long ago to the blogging pressure. On the other hand, I blog because I like to write. I hope in some small way to make a tiny contribution to the world. Sometimes, it's a great stress reliever to simply sit down at the keyboard and pound away your thoughts, ideas, and personal challenges.



I'm sure David, and other bloggers, feel the same way.



The question arises, however, of when the stress reliever becomes the stress creator.



My suggestion for anyone who feels pressured to blog, is to not blog. Take a day or three off from blogging entirely. Don't update. Don't post. Don't even think about blogging.



Enjoy a few days of relaxation. You will make the novel discovery there is a big world out there, that won't spontaneously self destruct, without your blog entries. You can then return to the keyboard, feeling refreshed and invigourated, and write again.



We hope for blogging without pressure.



Now, I just have to blog....I need a topic...what can I write about today...where are there some ideas...