Friday, November 09, 2012

"Best Of" Choosing Hallelujah: A Blog Retrospective

While we're catching up on old memes...Zoanna is always a great source for them, even if I don't come back to them for a year and a half :)

This one involves looking back through your old posts--that means almost a decade worth, since I officially started my blog nine years ago today(!)--and highlighting some notables. I'm using the original seven categories plus adding one of my own, just because I can:

(1) Most Beautiful 
The series I wrote on Jude's birth is pretty dear to my heart--its finale, Jude's Birth: Pain, Peace, Joy, tells a beautiful story and features some of the most precious and beautiful (in my opinion) photographs I own.

(2) Most Popular
Well, this one is easy: Where to Buy Cello Silke Pens takes both this category and #5. The post, alternately titled "The Story of a Crazy Woman and Her Pen Obsession, Part 2," has gotten more than four times as many hits as the next closest post. I continue to get comments on it three years later (it now has more comments on it than my previously most-commented-upon post, which was the announcement of Elijah's birth). My top referrals are usually google searches for "cello pens" or "cello silke" or some variation thereof. I did title the post to maximize search hits, but I certainly never dreamed it would take off like it did. It makes me smile every time I get a note in my inbox from some new, desperate, pen-obsessive searcher who proclaims that I have just saved their life and they are headed straight to Big Lots :)

When it's this one and the gratitude lists that get the most positive feedback, you get a good dose of humility as a blogger, that's for sure :)

(3) Most Controversial
I'm stumped here--I don't tend to post about controversial things all that often, or if I do, people don't comment much. The only thing that comes to mind is that whenever I post about anger, I seem to get pushback from people who don't like my labeling anger as sin. The last time was two years ago, when I  said I'd work on a follow-up...no surprise that I still haven't gotten around to that, either. It's on my NaBloPoMo list for this month, so we'll see. At any rate, previous anger posts have included:
Angry Baby
Anger is Not Neutral
Anger: Being the Wrong Kind of Image-Bearer
Thinking Biblically About Frustration

(4) Most Helpful 
I guess that Cello pen post would technically win here, too, but I want to look at some other posts! I don't know how helpful this has been to others, but Grace is Like Manna has been hugely helpful in my life, and the lesson/concept it describes is one I regularly share with others in real life. In the same vein, Who Gets the Last Word is another one I have to preach to myself and others constantly (and since Zo, who tagged me on this, called this one "perhaps one of the best ever," I guess it should get a mention!).

(5) Most Surprisingly Successful
See #2 above.

(6) Most Ignored 
I know I've had countless posts that I felt great about posting and then didn't get much (or any) feedback, but no specific ones come to mind. My comments section is generally not very lively, and I check my statistics very rarely, so I really don't have a sense of what actually gets read and what gets ignored. Sometimes I feel like I am just shouting into the void :)

(7) Most Proud Of
I'm running out of blogging-time here, so I'm going to cop out on this one and refer you to my "Favorite Posts" list in the sidebar. I'll go ahead and link here to a more recent post that's not listed there, What We Forget; What He Forgets--since ultimately my goal is to boast only in the cross, and if there's one thing I want to do here, it's point you to the beauty of Jesus.

(8) Most Vulnerable/Hardest to Write
Without a doubt, it was Crushed by Mother-Guilt, the beginning of a four-part series about my difficult and painful adjustment to motherhood. It was even harder after a couple of negative comments I got on part three--but I'd still like to think that this series could fall under the "most helpful" category, too.

I'd love to hear from you, if you have a favorite post or something I've written that has really struck a nerve. And I'm not going to bother tagging anyone on this, but if you want to participate, feel free and give me a heads-up in the comments section.

3 comments:

Zoanna said...

I have appreciated your most vulnerable posts because I feel connected to people who, now and then, expose their raw feelings and character flaws. I also like the home remodeling posts to see your personal space in progress--your tastes and Steve's handiwork.
And those adorable little boy smiles--the everyday stuff, the humorous things, the ups and downs that aren't life-changing or earth-shattering, but normal "hey-I-can-relate!" happenings. I don't personally tend to read long devotional type posts these days from anyone unless the first paragraph hooks me. Must be the phase I'm in; I used to love those "teaching" type posts, but I guess I'd rather be a peer in blogland than a mere reader or student. I tend not to write that type any more, either; they rarely garnered comments so I concluded they didn't make much impact. Maybe they did, but I think people ought to leave a comment if they get something out of your writing, don't you? Maybe not every single time, but I have this thing for comments. I leave them often, and I like it reciprocated. Don't we all?

Ali said...

I fully enjoy your blog! And although I'm not one to comment often, I am often reading. :) Keep up the good work. You surely are pointing people to the cross. Your love of the Lord shines through your words beautifully.

Danielle said...

I'm with you on the most ignored. Often my posts that are the most spiritually minded are most ignored, while random pics of my kids are huge hits! I can't say I really like this, but I guess that's my audience these days! Now that blogging has taken a back seat to Facebook it seems (except for the MEGA blogs like Simple Mom) I know a lot less people are writing/reading blogs from my original audience. But writing is the way I process my life so I won't stop sharing! :)