Life Between 0 and 1

I probably visit this page two to three times per week.  I find inspiration to write by reading what others in the blogging community find interesting or note worthy.  I was asked by a close friend which service I use to blog, to which I answered WordPress.  They lit up and asked if I could share my screen name so they could follow me, to which I replied “No.”  I don’t share this with people I know in real life.  After explaining to them why I wouldn’t share, they seemed ok.  Their next question was “have you ever been freshly pressed?” and I again responded “No.”

To be honest, I have no clue how those entries are chosen to be splashed for the millions of WordPress bloggers to read.  Seeing a blog go from two digit followers to three and four digit followers is a scary and daunting thought.  I troll other blogs like a sketchy character in the dark as I’m very picky about who I follow and what I comment on.  I’m not a fan of the “nice post” and “good read” commenters out there as I don’t really think they actually read anything.  Why comment if all you’re going to do is give the electronic version of a thumbs up?  It’s similar to that guy or girl at a party that makes sure to say “Hi” to everyone but ends up leaving the party early because there isn’t any substance to back up the “Hi”.

I hear “freshly pressed” and immediately think of something like the juice I’ve been making for months now.  Damn good juice I might add.  My body went through a “what the hell are you putting in me” phase when I first started.  It definitely wasn’t pretty nor did it feel good. I imagine getting freshly pressed on WordPress to be a similar type of situation.  Shocking at first, doesn’t feel good, but after you get used to the idea and the real people stick around its easier to digest and keep up with the comments and posts.  My posting activity has definitely picked up recently as it has been more and more therapeutic to me.  I don’t write for anyone other than myself and that certainly wouldn’t change if I were, someday, to get freshly pressed.

Do I call attention to myself at this point, probably.  Doing a google image search for “freshly pressed” results in a crap load of pictures all related to WordPress.  I found the one below rather comical.  Visiting the blog that had this posted revealed a huge library of posts that were more than a few years old and obviously abandoned.  I wonder if the pressure of being freshly pressed drove them to insanity and forced blog abandonment.

My view on this whole freshly pressed thing is a bit pessimistic.  Although I have expressed wanting to be followed by more people, the other side of the coin has me thinking that it would take some of the wind out of my sails.  Being showcased to so many people would put me front and center on an electronic stage where I’m probably never going to be comfortable and suffer forever from writers block.  I liken my style of writing more to word vomit than anything really cohesive.  I see something I am interested in and decide to write about it.  I appreciate the bloggers that have a weekly thing, I often enjoy looking forward to them as well, however I could probably never keep something like that going for an extended period of time.