Imagine a situation where you just feel like writing. You start a blog; not with the notion of earning money or starting a business but rather, just because you want to put your thoughts out there in the universe.
You write a couple of posts not imagining that anyone will ever end up reading them. You write because you feel you have something to say and, maybe your thoughts will be useful to someone.
And then something wonderful happens. People start reading your posts.
And suddenly you’re no longer writing what you feel; you’re writing what people want to hear. You start changing your themes and your voice to what you think will click with people.
You’ve fallen into the popularity trap.
Once you’re in the popularity trap, you start to change your writing. You write to please and forget that the whole purpose was to write from your heart. Sometimes you’ll embrace the challenge and still try to be authentic. Other times, you’ll just give up because the pressure is just too much.
The truth is, it’s not always easy to find the balance between writing posts that will resonate with the masses and writing from the heart. I envy those who can do both.
On the one hand the popularity has immense appeal. On the other hand, I often think I don’t want to be popular and I just want to write from my heart. I feel like a sell out.
But, there’s nothing wrong with being popular… we just need to remember not to lose ourselves in the process.
Looking through a frosty window... 