I love eating delicious food. And I love creating new recipes. But I don’t think I would consider myself a foodie: what I like about blogging and about making up recipes is the creativity involved. I don’t watch cooking shows, don’t read cookbooks in my spare time, don’t spend hours upon hours thinking about food, and…
I feel so mean for what I am about to admit, but I don’t enjoy spending the day feeling like I have to read every single food blog out there. I really don’t want anyone’s feelings to get hurt, and I don’t want anyone to feel like I’m ignoring him or her, so I feel compelled to try and visit as many blogs of people who leave comments on mine as I can. Lately, I’ve felt overwhelmed at the sheer number of blogs I feel the need to visit and comment on each day. I try to be fair;
I’m definitely not one of those people who only leaves comments on the popular blogs. I hate to open up this can of worms, but it makes me sad to see the little blogs ignored. Just because a certain blogger doesn’t get 50 comments per day does NOT mean her blog isn’t good and she doesn’t deserve comments. In fact, I try to comment more on these blogs than the popular blogs because each comment means more to the bloggers. I remember when I was first starting out and got only 5 comments per day. Those 5 comments might as well have been 500 for how happy they made me. Not that I don’t still get excited when someone leaves a comment on my blog: I really do!
Even the comments that just say simple things like “yum” or “cool idea” mean a lot to me. So I feel like a hypocrite if I don’t try my hardest to visit your blogs and try and repay that happiness. You all do such a good job of keeping up with my posts that it’s only fair I should do the same. And everyone has such interesting, well-thought-out posts that I really wish there were time to thoroughly read them all. I love you all, and your blogs are amazing: creative, funny, delightful… Each of you offers something special and unique to the blogging world. But feeling like I have to visit so many blogs as quickly as possible (so I can fit all the other things I want to do into my life), I find myself skimming over your cute stories, creative ideas, and other ways that your personalities shine.
Yes, I know I’m over-estimating my importance in peoples’ lives. Logically, I can see you all probably don’t spend even a minute feeling slighted over such dumb things as whether or not CCK commented more on your blog than someone else’s. But not-so-logically, I have a fault of being way too sensitive and worrying about hurting others. I will still try to comment every now and then. I am going to have to step back even further in the amount I comment, though. It does not mean that I love you guys any less!
Blogging should be fun. Lately, to me, parts of it have become a chore. I want to bring the fun back… And I promise not to abandon you. I’m still reading blogs, even if I don’t always comment!
Question of the Day:
Do any of you feel like this; like parts of blogging—be it trying to comment on tons of others’ sites or the pressures to blog about certain things or to not offend anyone—can sometimes get you down? I’m sure many of you do! Please know that I will NEVER hold it against you if you don’t have time to comment on my site. Yes, I’ll miss hearing your thoughts, your cute stories, and your kind words. But it won’t make me stop loving you.
Katie, I completely understand how you feel. Blogging and all the shenanigans that come with it is time-consuming! I think everyone’s first priority should be to live life away from the computer. Blogging is a way to document life, not a way to live it! 🙂 You have a loyal reader here—no way I’m “abandoning” your blog. Your posts are fun to read and your recipes are awesome—there’s no good reason for me to stop reading/commenting!
Have a lovely, busy Sunday!
“But not-so-logically, I have a fault of being way to sensitive to peoples’ feelings and worrying about hurting them.”
Katie, this is what makes you so wonderful! We all read your blog and love it (and you!) because you are so selfless and kind. And guess what? Those attributes have very little to do with the volume of comments you leave on other people’s blogs. We understand! And anyone who doesn’t – or who stops reading your blog because you didn’t comment on hers – probably only wanted to use you and your famous name (hehe) to gain popularity. 😛
Do what’s fun for you. If that means commenting less or even blogging less, so be it! No matter what you do, we’ll still support you. So go on and post that put-yourself-out-there post; we’re ready and waiting to give you all the encouragement and support you could possible need – and then some!
It can get pretty overwhelming but having a blog and reading blogs should always be fun. Sometimes when I see my google reader overflowing with unread posts I get a bit overwhelmed but I think that just finding that balance is what it’s all about.
It totally does feel like a 2-way street at times. I try to leave comments and I love getting comments back, even though it’s only about 2-3 a post every one makes me smile and I appreciate the sweet things others say.
omg please don’t feel mean or selfish!! aww katie, you’e the farthest thing from that! what i’ve always admired about you is that you’re NOT a “foodie,” all of your eats are very creative but totally approachable for anyone to try. i love that despite your blog’s popularity, you haven’t let it go to your head :). i’ve noticed (with sadness) how a lot of the “big” bloggers ignore the newbies, i guess they seem to forget that they started out with exactly 0 readers themselves! that being said, comments are so much fun, and my eyes light up every time i see one in my inbox, but comments are not what blogging is about! of course i get excited when i see a comment from you, beacuse you’re awesome, and if i made a recipe from ya it’s fun to share the “experience” or whatever with you, but i would never feel insulted if you didn’t comment! i know our lives are all busy, and blogging should NOT be the #1 time consumer on the list, you should be out enjoying life and doing all the things you love to do!
ok basically, love ya katie! hope i still see ya around elsewhere on the blogworld, but if not, i’m STILL going to keep reading yours and probs commenting too, just because i love it and want to!
awwww katie–you are so sweet
i am amazed that you have ever made any comment on my page
i am tickled pink that you have answered every question i’ve asked you in the same sweet way you post your blog
i feel overwhelmed trying to keep up with the blogs i follow and the few comments i get on my own
i can’t imagine anyone would believe you would have enough time to make comments back for all the people who comment here
anyone who would expect you to has some personal issues of their own they might want to sort through 🙂
i would be like you though too…and am on my own super small scale blogging world guilt trip some days
so…don’t feel bad–just keep on blogging and read the blogs you like to read…not any that you feel you should read 🙂
I feel overwhelmed sometimes trying to comment on all the blogs I follow! But you have to take care of yourself and step away from the computer screen.
And thank you for being one of the first people to comment on my blog, you have no idea how much it meant!
great post! I should definately post more often, but I read a lot of blogs. I love your chocolate covered confections.
Don’t apologize for having a life! You are a person, with interests outside of the computer, and that’s OK! You shouldn’t feel obligated to comment on anyone’s blogs. Yes, I agree some bloggers who are “popular” (this is like high school!) are high and mighty on themselves, but forget about them! You seem sweet and sincere, and don’t have to prove anything to anyone!
dear katie-
just so you know, i get SOOO excited when i see i have a message from you… even if it’s just an “LOL”… it brightens my day, and i’d actually prefer that you spread that love, rather than feeling obligated to send it in any one (or 5,000) directions…
my point being… everyone loves you, loves to hear from you, but no one expects you to always comment on their blogs!
don’t do any of it out of obligation b/c the last thing any of us want is for you to stop enjoying what you do and being the happy/full of life chocolate covered incredible that you are =)
Katie!!!
Don’t beat yourself up about the blog commenting thing! I am sure all these wonderful people understand that you can’t commit your entire life to the food blog world. 😀
I don’t think anyone is crossing you off of their to read blog list just because you didn’t comment back!
I think this post clearly shows that you do your best and that you don’t just ignore blogs but appreciate everyone’s comments!
Cheer up peanut! Even if, BIG IF, you lost commenters or readers (which I highly doubt) I will be there, reading your blog every day! 😀
xxx