Our slower paced homestead lifestyle lends itself to a fair amount of introspection. Lately, I’ve been thinking a fair amount about this blog—is it worth doing, how important is it, what’s its real purpose, its value? I have now discovered its true value, which lies of course, in humiliation.
Take my recent post concerning “The Death Birch.” As soon as I finished the post, I went out and got to work on the tree. I had the remaining logs bucked up, chopped, and stacked and drying on the beach before lunch that day! I could hardly believe it. And, I have to ask myself if it would have gone that quickly if I hadn’t set myself up for potential ridicule and humiliation by broadcasting my intentions? Had I not told the world I had this chore to tackle, I might easily have found excuses not to do it. With few or no deadlines, such tasks can easily be willed away if we’re not careful.
There are many things in life that motivate me, but, like most people, one of the strongest is the desire to avoid embarrassment. The blog, then, becomes a powerful weapon, one that is turned on myself, a weapon capable of coercing me into doing things I might otherwise put off.
I must use it wisely!
Ha! That’s the whole idea behind Food Waste Fridays over on my blog…when I know people will see my waste, I’m too embarrassed to throw things away. lol
Isn’t it sad, Kristen, the things we sometimes do to ourselves to make sure we get things done? What would this be called, self-blackmail?
Folks, if you haven’t checked out Kristen’s blog, I highly recommend it! You’ll find a link to The Frugal Girl on my blog list at the right of each page.
Mark