I wrote Share your fear in late June as my first blog post responding to Blog Exercises set by a stranger in the USA called Lorelle. Now I have a staggering collection of 24 blog posts (including this post) from these exercises completed in the past 45 days. You’ll see my full list of the 24 posts at the end of this post.
At the same time, I deleted about 24 old posts from this blog. This is my Yin and Yang approach: I added a well-written post, which I had poured my heart into writing, and I deleted a limp, floppy old post, which was re-blogged or written in haste.
One of my achievements in the process was my creation of a massive Table of Contents with Lorelle’s guidance. This table helps me see my strength, weakness, goal and hit-and-miss attempts in writing.
When I wrote Share Your Fear, I treated it as a challenge. I decided to pick up a few exercises to push myself just a little bit further. Since I created this blog, I sometimes connect well, but sometimes I was fumbling in the dark. I even considered closing the blog before. Now, one and a half month’s intensive exercises under Lorelle’s watchful (and tender) eyes have completely turned me around, and I must announce I’m just a tad obsessed with Lorelle, possibly not in an unhealthy way.
Analogy: Swimming and Blogging
Do I have any words of wisdom through my 24 posts? I would form new threads with some of my quotes in my future posts, but today, I would like to shamelessly share two quotes that I have recently used about blogging.
In How is swimming like blogging? I wrote:
A swimming pool is for swimming. Does it need further explanations?
Swim your passion – image taken at Mottisfont Abbey
I wrote the above after an unhappy swimming experience. I was frustrated by some selfish, inconsiderate behaviours by the pool. I tried to swim but my lanes were blocked.
I understood people visit the swimming pool for different reasons. Serious and regular swimmers go for a proper swim, with kicking and stretching, and some people seriously try to lose weight, but some people enjoy flirting and soaking in water. I then dreamed of a swimming utopia, where everybody is respectful and everyone achieves their own goal – swimming, relaxing, socialising. However, how can the utopia be achieved? There is a need for boundaries.
My source of blogging nutrients
This concept of a swimming utopia is linked to my two other quotes in Blogging in English: Who am I?
Lorelle’s Exercises have become my blogging nutrients.
Lorelle on WordPress is my source of blogging nutrients.
In need of nutrients: Plant in dried cracked mud — Image by Olearys via Flickr
I adore Lorelle for her consistency, clarity and high-level thinking. Sometimes she does not give advice; she simply commands. For example, don’t create a Link dump, and, spell the trademark WordPress correctly (not wordpress). I really fall in love with this old-fashioned matron approach.
There are numerous sites from where I could easily obtain WordPress tips and “how to” advice, but after carefully observing Lorelle for months well before I started, and devouring her old posts, I found she offers something deeper, something more superior and utterly impeccable, something that transcends: her humanity.
Behind her advice and rules, including highly technical information totally useless and incomprehensible for me, is Lorelle’s humanity. She passionately sets rules and gives advice because she believes they serve a greater purpose, for the world to show compassion, kindness and love through effective communication, through eradicating bad practice. In Lorelle’s world I see beyond rules and codes, I see a refreshing way of communication, I see blogging as a philosophy, and I understand what Blogging Your Passion really means.
This post was inspired by Blog Exercises: Collect Your Quotes by Lorelle VanFossen. You can find more Blog Exercises on Lorelle on WordPress. This is a year-long challenge to help you flex your blogging muscles.
My Related Posts:
In reverse chronological order since I started my Blog Exercises on Lorelle on WordPress
- I swim and I blog: where are my nutrients from?
- Must all boys love Lego?
- Not a narcissistic outsider
- Making mistakes
- Born as an outsider
- An age with relative freedom
- Oriental and western views on postnatal confinement
- The process of creating Site Table of Contents
- My Site Table of Contents – I did it!
- Magnificent display at Buckingham Palace
- Blogging in English: Who am I?
- Pondering Freedom of Speech during Ramadan
- Copyright violation: are you a victim?
- Honouring Nelson Mandela: Make Everyday a Mandela Day
- Do you remember the victims’ names in Asiana plane crash?
Janet's Notebook 
Always a great pleasure to find a teacher.
Dear Shimon,
Your brief sentence about the ‘pleasure in finding a teacher’ really resonates with me. You’re one of my teachers and to many of us who are following you and your beautiful cat, Nechama. You’ve attracted us to your site with your stories, wisdom, and your good sense of humour. I’ve learnt a great deal. We can all teach each other new things, but a good teacher always stands out, truly inspires and we always remember a good teacher who has a great impact on our lives.
The wonder of the Internet has enabled us to learn from people all around the world, to be selective about whose company we would enjoy. It’s wonderful.
LOL! “Not in an unhealthy way.” I love it!!!
Can I please quote you on that. It’s beautiful!
Now I’m crying. You are so sweet.
It has been a joy to celebrate the past few months with you. I have many students and clients I work with daily, but few have inspired me as much as you have recently. I love how far you are willing to go with this, pushing yourself into new directions and risking all the way…very proud of you.
Thank you!
Thank you for taking me on, Lorelle. Your energy is admirable.
I took up the first Exercise without a plan or long-term commitment. It somehow spirals out of control and now I have more than 20 solid posts, which are very distinct from my previous posts.
Change is good. Change can also be risky. What if I can’t stick to it? My site is an operating theatre, and there’s no harm in trying the alternative treatment, and what I think is the finest.
I’ve learnt; I’ve grown. That’s a good feeling to have. Thank you.
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Can’t stick to what? My blog exercises are things you can do on your own calendar and schedule. You can come and go as you please. Any self-discipline to keep up with it is your agenda. If you start thinking that you can’t keep up, trust me, you won’t.
You are rocking it, experimenting and testing the waters of your life, personality, character, and readers. Blogging is an evolution. It is never “baked.”
You are doing amazing things! Keep going and don’t think about too many things. It sets you up for self-sabotage. Trust yourself.
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