Quantity over quality

If you made it through the last post, I congratulate you on your perserverance.

In the somewhat clear light of day, I thought of deleting it, but it's staying. I do sometimes go on late night quiz taking sprees, though not often (thankfully). Only this time, I tell the tale.

When I started this blog, I didn't want it to be a diary of my daily life. I did want to write about my life, but only if it related in some way to the topic at hand, or illustrated some point. Fragrance reviews spawned memories. Politics triggered forgotten ideals. Having trouble zipping up my jeans got me thinking about the beauty standard.

You get the picture.

The blogging bug hit me hard. I started reading other personal blogs, which I admit, I hadn't done much, as I mostly read big popular political ones like Andrew Sullivan's (which I spent an inordinate amount of time doing during the election season).

His readership is so large that he doesn't allow comments. Sure, I'd e-mail him once in a while, but why I bothered is beyond me. We weren't having a conversation. He's a superstar in the blogosphere.

Now, I'm enjoying blogging even more, though perhaps my original intent has been blunted. See, what I'm writing right now is off my original base. This post is about blogging, and my thoughts about it. Why should I bother? Why should you bother reading it, for that matter?

I go back and forth about this. I like that I'm normalizing my blog, on the one hand, for occasionally filling out some set of meme questions or taking silly tests and posting their results is just plain ol' fun. On the other hand, I wonder, why aren't I writing about something important?

Well, I'm just not up to it every day. I'd prefer to post often, instead of waiting until I have a good idea. I love blogs that update frequently, but that's me. I suppose that's why I could do NaNoWriMo: "It's all about quantity, not quality!"

If you had told me that I'd come to see the value of that statement in this lifetime, I'd have said it's not possible. I once was a perfectionist, and as I've gotten older, I've let that fall away. Chris Baty says "The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations. . ." High expectations have always been the bane of my existence.

Now, I'm a firm adherent of process over product. If this sounds contradictory to the idea of quantity over quality, it's not. By freeing myself completely from attachment to an outcome, I'm learning, having fun and doing things I would have never thought possible. That's process. The freedom produces quantity.

Painting note: Pablo Picasso "The Dream" 1932
Picasso was the world's second most prolific painter.Morris Katz holds the Guinness World record for #1. But, I couldn't bring myself to post one of his paintings.