My first post — Bear blog question challenge
Hi, I'm wombat. I saw this challenge posted by Ava, whose blog I quite enjoy reading. I figured this would make a fun first post.
Why did you make the blog in the first place?
I used to have a lot of creative outlets as a kid — writing, drawing, building in Minecraft... but as I grew up and learned shame and self-consciousness, I slowly lost the ability to simply create things without beating myself up over it or eventually destroying it entirely. As a result, I have been stuck in a state of self-induced creative paralysis, reduced to a passive lurker rather than a creator (see the 1% rule).
As my ability to articulate and express myself atrophied, I felt my inner world become more and more inaccessible — to the point where I had no clue what I was thinking and feeling half the damn time. My ability to imagine and dream had also similarly diminished. A life of unexamined passive consumption — even of high-quality material that I enjoyed — was so deeply unsatisfying to me. As an introvert without even an exciting external life, I felt that I was becoming unbearably boring, even to myself.
I just want to carve out my own little corner of the Internet with my own two hands; have something that I can point to and call my own. And you, dear reader, may perhaps find this interesting. Or not. (If you do have anything to say, do email me and let me know!)
Why did you choose Bearblog?
I was initially attracted to its free-forever philosophy and simple set-up – I’m no techie, and I have no desire to fuss with code when my first priority is writing and getting my content out there. But as I dug through other users’ blogs on the Discovery feed, I was also enamored by the vibrancy of the Bear Blog community.
Of course, I am aware that without upgrading, my blog would be hidden from the feed and from search engines. But my hope is that by establishing a presence or persona on Bear Blog, it would allow me to better reach out to people on here.
Edited to add: Thank you Mono and Ava for letting me know that free users can also apply here to have their posts featured on the discovery feed! The more you know.
Have you blogged on other platforms before?
I have used write.as in the past and posted a couple of articles — before quickly abandoning it and nuking the blog altogether, even though I believe nobody had actually read it.
At some point, I wanted to make a Jekyll blog and host it on my GitHub page. Call me lazy, but I found it way too tedious to set up to my liking.
Do you write your posts directly in the editor or in another software?
I write in Obsidian — despite its complex features, I’ve always only used it like a more advanced version of the default Notes app, or a digital version of a notebook. It helps that I can compose directly in Markdown and just paste that into the Bear Blog editor.
I also do write in a paper journal (more sporadically than I’d like to admit); I would like to rework some of those entries into future blog posts.
When do you feel most inspired to write?
In the mundane moments of life, like many other people. Like when I’m in the shower, staring out of the window on public transport, or taking a walk — basically whenever I can’t anesthetize myself by filling my head otherwise.
Do you publish immediately after writing or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?
It depends. As I am writing this post, I intend to publish it immediately because I don’t think there’s much to be gained from leaving it in my drafts. But I do have some unpublished drafts that are sitting in my notes for various reasons, and even more bare-bones ideas that have been languishing in my head.
Your favorite post on your blog?
Well, I don’t have any other posts, so this post will have to be simultaneously my favorite and least favorite until I post the next one. :)
Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, changing the tag system, etc.?
I have no idea! I’ll go with the flow, I suppose. It’ll be alright whatever I do, or don’t do.