Thoughts on SeptemBest
What each of the SeptemBest posts meant to me.
JCProbably’s SeptemBest post says up front:
I’m finding myself falling into this habit of reading blog posts that resonate with me, with full intention of writing a response post for it, and never actually doing it.
I know the feeling. I also wanted to respond to the wonderful posts that Robert posted as part of the challenge so here they are before I forget!
Brandon: The competitive drive
Brandon writes about his own challenges with social interaction and seeing the same traits in his daughter. As a parent myself and having had a child that ended up with some of the same issues I’ve faced myself this one really hit home.
o4fs world: bish, bash, NHS, bosh
Bear writes about dealing with, frankly a quite scary (to me), visit to the hospital for a second bout of atrial fibrillation. I have a very mild heart rhythm issue and stories like this just freak me out but I’m glad to read such a well-written personal story because I know there are others out there facing the same problems that I am.
Robert Birming: From Hell to Healing
Robert, our SeptemBest host, writes a very personal story about dealing with crushing anxiety and being diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. This one really resonated with me deeply as I’ve been dealing with the same problem since the pandemic (and maybe even prior but not as serious) lockdowns. It is no way to live and I’m glad Robert sought out help.
Alexandra writes about the change of season from Summer, to Autumn, to Winter and her varying reactions to it all. For me, I can’t wait for Fall and October is my favorite month. I crave the cool temperatures and the explosion of Fall colors around my area. But once Christmas is over, and I know that we’ve got months until it’s warm again, it becomes a similar struggle to what Alexandra writes about.
Netigen: Publish Once, Syndicate Nowhere
Netigen writes about POSSE and the struggle with what writing on a personal blog really means. Should we be writing only for ourselves first? Should we be putting the links to those words out on social media for others to find?
Posting here is a given, but for me, it’s the syndication piece that needs to stop. I am not a brand. I am just a person jotting down thoughts and casting them out into the ether. I shouldn’t use them as a lure, and that’s what syndication, even only to Mastodon, feels like to me right now.
I face the same struggle often and I wonder a lot what writing on the web really means if nobody is reading it.
Dominik writes about the joys of running and the good feelings it engenders for him. I also used to love running before my knees couldn’t take it. There definitely is something special about that feeling of being exhausted but good after a run and knowing you’re doing something good for your body and mind.
Marisabel Munoz: Write as you wish: a call to bring back the prose
Marisabel loves the craft of writing and laments the social media-driven movement of short, to-the-point, writing. I agree completely. I love the craft of whittling down sentences as much as the next person but that doesn’t imply minimalism as Marisabel notes. This all goes hand in hand with how distracted we’ve become with reading, so many only now only having attention spans for short bursts. I’ve been trying to return to reading more books as of late and counter this tendency I’ve had myself.
As a lover of tinkering with systems of all kinds Jake’s post resonated with me quite a bit. He calls for just starting, iterating on solutions one step at a time. This is great advice as I’ve seen people, particularly in PKM (personal knowledge management) forums agonize over what fully-baked system is right for them vs. just figuring it out on their own one bit at a time.
Stefan Bohacek: Creative fediverse communities
Stefan writes about different communities in the fediverse which have some sort of creative limitation. I’m a member of one such community, 500.social , that is linked to in the post.
and last but certainly not least:
Lou Plummer: The Last Bottle of Bourbon
In this post Lou writes about being an alcoholic and the moment when he started his recovery. It’s a powerful story that I know many can relate to. Lou writes a lot of fantastic things about his personal life and interests. Check out the links at the top of his site for more!
