I have been frustrated with blogging for a while now. This frustration comes from how the blogoshpere has seemingly evolved and changed into solely a money making endeavor over sharing one’s experiences and ideas with other people.
I have followed a lot of bloggers the past few years on how to blog in hopes of getting more traction for this particular website and in doing so I have come to the conclusion blogging is now more about trying to make money than about sharing thoughts and ideas with the world. That’s a shame, too, in my opinion.
It seems the only successful blogs out there are ones trying to teach other bloggers how to make money from blogging. Aside from the few bird watching blogs I follow, I wonder if anybody is blogging at all for the pure sake of sharing with the world as opposed to making a quick buck.
This misguided and false perception that the only useful blog is about making money forces us believe if the blog isn’t about how to get rich then it isn’t interesting or useful.
It almost caused me to give up on blogging and writing about what I like most, which is nature, birds, butterflies and the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
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Last week, however, I put the phone down, I closed the laptop and I shut off the online world around me for a bit and I headed out to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge to get all the cyber garbage that has been piling up out of my mind about blogging and the internet.
I have found the best way to do that is to get out in nature and immerse yourself in the solitude of what the natural world around us has to offer.
Recently, a brown pelican has showed up on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. It is way out of its normal range being a coastal bird so it is quite a unique and unusual treat for us bird enthusiasts to partake.
Nobody really knows where the pelican came from and what caused it to fly so far inland but it’s here and moments like this are a great way to block out the noise brought in by modern society we all have to face each day.
Watching this brown pelican fly up and down the river in search of food caused me to remember why I got into blogging in the first place. It wasn’t to get rich or famous but rather to share experiences and photographs of moments many people never get to see.
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That is what I think blogging should be about, writing about our passions for others to learn from and enjoy, but somehow it has evolved into something else entirely, something more about money and sponsors than about thoughts and ideas.
Yes, it is what I do for a living and there will always be that side of things pertaining to blogging for me but watching this pelican do what it enjoys reminded me I need to do what I enjoy and not let the cyber world take away what I am passionate about, nature and writing about my experiences in the natural world.
Watching this pelican reminded me I should photograph and write about what I enjoy and what I am passionate about and not be dragged down into the world of blogging just for money.
A few moments of watching this bird interact with its surroundings gave me a bit of relaxation and motivation we all need in life no matter what our passions are. Sometimes we get so engrossed in what we do we forget who we are and what makes us tick.
Social media and the online world is great at luring us away from being ourselves and forgetting there is a whole world out there and there are times we need to shut off the internet and get outdoors and enjoy mother nature.
There is a time and place for social media and the internet but there is also a time and place to get out from behind a computer or smart phone and just watch what is all around us. There is so much the natural world has to offer and much of it can be found nearby if we just open our eyes and look for it.
One example of this is bird watching. Me and my brother have been doing some work in our yards to help local and migratory birds. We are planting some useful vegetation and also put out feeders to help feed and attract birds.
Each Sunday, we spend a few hours watching the birds in his backyard as they come and go and it is amazing at how relaxing, even rejuvenating, it is to observe nature, especially in one’s own space like this.
I plan on implementing some of these backyard bird watching moments into this website as we get closer to winter in hopes of inspiring others to do the same.
I appreciate each and every reader which comes to my blog and I hope you have been inspired a little bit to get outdoors and enjoy nature.
I hope you will consider subscribing to my blog via email so you can stay in touch with my posts about nature and what I find so compelling about birds, butterflies and all the other fascinating creatures we share this planet with. You can subscribe in the footer section below and don’t worry, the only emails you will get from me are blog post notifications as I hate spam as much as the next guy.
Until next time, spend a few minutes each week away from the phones and computers we are so dependent on and get out and enjoy the natural world around us, even if it just a few minutes in your own backyard or local park.
