When I pull one of my old writings “out of the archives,” am I cheating? Does it really matter whether I post something every day, as I have for more than five years now? Should I go back to my old habit of only posting when I have written something new?
I realized Sunday night, while I was engrossed in watching the very odd Packers-Cowboys football game that ended in a 40-40 tie, that I had not posted my Monday post yet, and I could not concentrate on the blog. Oh, I could have turned off the television but, you know, Packers game. I searched and found something I had posted approximately 10 years ago.
Was that cheating? I ask myself that question every time I dip into the archives. I did start the every-day-posting thing to challenge myself to write every day, and so it definitely qualifies as cheating myself.
On the other hand, I probably have barely a dozen people who read my blog every day — and thank you, friends, I really appreciate you! But that means it’s very likely that something I wrote 10 years ago is brand new to the vast majority of folks who wander into this space, and maybe that will be the piece that gets some readers to come back again.
I’m a little more than 100 days away from posting something — anything — for the 2,000th consecutive day, and so I’m reluctant to have to reset the clock at this stage, and anyway I don’t want to alarm my handful of regular readers — “What happened? Is he OK?”
So yes, I am cheating when I repeat myself for no other reason than to keep the streak going, but now the streak is five years old and counting. The alternative to a rerun is writing a post to the effect of “I’m just writing this to keep the streak going” (which I also have done a few times), and instead re-posting something I’m glad I wrote years ago provides a little more value.
I keep meaning to start writing a few days in advance, so that when I have a night when I’m enjoying a football game, I don’t have to fret about a blog post. Writing ahead makes so much sense that I’ve added it to the long list of things I’m procrastinating over.
It’s occurred to me that I should write a book about procrastination, since I’m a certified world-class practitioner. I may get around to that, one of these days.
