I was browsing my blog
stats this morning, [No, I’m not totally obsessed with my stats. I just like to look at them now
and then!] and there are two blog posts that have been visited far more regularly than any of
the others. I’m not sure why but I suspect it could have something to do with turning ourselves
inside out. Allow me to elucidate:
 |
| Me in psychedelic mode |
The most popular post by far is the one where I talk about Op-art, those
psychedelic images that we loved so much in the 60s. In those days I just
thought they were pretty patterns but I now know that they were a representation of the way the world looked when on a drug-induced LSD ‘trip’.
Almost an entire generation wanted to find out exactly who
they were. They wanted to get inside themselves. Although
I was a teenager in the 60s, I was as naive as an Enid Blyton character and so I'm not typing from experience. I’ll never know what it felt like to be on LSD but I do know that quite a few
overdosed, some never fully recovered and, rather than looking inside themselves, they only ever succeeded in turning themselves
inside out. [See what I did there!]
The second most popular post is the one where I talk about finding history in holes, the way historical finds are always way below the level of our present day buildings. I
mused about whether we were raising the level of our world higher and higher so
that one day we might even ‘reach the moon’. Yes I was being fanciful but thanks to Anne at MorningAJ I was given some insight into the phenomenon. In her comment on that blog post she told
us the following:
‘Darwin did a study about how things get buried underground. He found out that earthworms bring literally tons of soil up to the surface overnight (as a team .... not each) and that is how things get buried so quickly .... The earth isn’t getting fatter. It’s turning itself inside out!’
Thank you, Anne, for educating me and for providing me with
the title of this blog post!
So there you have it!
Both of my top posts are about being turned inside out.
Sometimes I wonder if I
spend too much time looking inside myself. It certainly feels, when things go wrong, as if I've turned myself inside out. Maybe I should spend more time on
the outside... or put another way, maybe I should get out more! [That was meant as a joke... I think!]
Do you spend too much time looking inside yourself?
And if you’re a blogger, do you have certain blog posts that appear to attract far more visitors than other posts for no apparent reason?
I try not to look in there too much lol.
ReplyDeleteThat has a lot to do with writing, doesn't it? Where do you get stories from? Do you look inside yourself or do you observe others from the outside? ~Miriam
ReplyDeleteHi Delores, that's a wise move.
ReplyDeleteHi Miriam, you're spot on there. I wish I'd thought of that point before I posted this up! I think that creative writing is a mixture of what's going on deep inside us and what we observe on the outside. No wonder it's so emotionally demanding!
I think I look inside myself too much. I made a big effort recently to get away from autobiographical writing and write something purely fictional. The 'purely' turned out to be not possible for me. I found my fictional characters had bits of me in them and I was drawing on my life experiences in one way or another. Even my alien from outer space character was - ahem - rather a lot like me!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have the time to look inside myself too much - always something else claiming my attention!
ReplyDeleteMy book blog's most popular post - by a long way - is the review of Tomorrow When the War began by John Marsden, a story of invasion of Australia by unknown enemy. The only reason we've come up with is that it's on the Australian schools' curriculum!
My most popular post was written by mu daughter, when I was in Nepal - about coping with a mother up a mountain. So well written - no doubt she'll be back next time I go away!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize earthworms did that much work - powerful little critters! I'm the worst for looking at my stats, so I have no idea what posts are popular. I should probably look one of these days... :)
ReplyDeleteMy movie reviews seem to get a mild bubble, otherwise I'm writing into cyberspace and just have fun with it. Who knows what attracts people or what magic words sync with searches? It's all a mystery to me.
ReplyDeleteFascinating what I learn when I pop along to Ros's Blog. Worms, rurning inside out and more. Love it all. xx
ReplyDeleteLooking inside myself is where all my stories come from - each one is there to explain who I am to myself. The fact I can do it by creating characters and situations is a bonus.
ReplyDeleteRosalind, I don't think I've visited here for awhile. I really like your new blog format and design! It's simple and attractive, easy to read. Anyway, this is an interesting topic. I can say that the posts that appeal to me the most when I'm browsing are the ones I can relate to, even if it's the blogger being very introspective.
ReplyDeleteI think if you write you must search deep inside yourself especially bloggers as they lay their own thoughts bare for all to see. My most popular post was one about fortune tellers telling me I would meet my husband, the second was my first birthdat blog post. Once again we're in sync as I have a small draft on why some posts attract more traffic than others. Amazing!
ReplyDeletewell i am kind of new to blogging but yes , they do ! these posts where i analyse the nature and behaviours tend to attract more readers , i wonder why
ReplyDeleteYes, I do look inside myself, but I think less so now. More when I was younger and trying to discover who I was. I looked at the same stats this week but didn't go over everything, instead I used the gadget for most popular posts and entered the first five in my sidebar. The gadget is now correct, because the number 2 post has had double the views of the number 1 post. Go figure. And mine did not go inside, the most popular one is about Murals and the second about Trolls -- go figure.
ReplyDeleteI meant to say that the gadget is NOT correct.
ReplyDeleteThe blog post that got the most hits for me had a picture of a cat sitting on a toilet!!! I've finally done my Booker Award post (just thought I'd let you know I hadn't forgotten). Now I'm going to check out your links.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I never think to look at my blog stats. Now you've made me curious, I'll have to have a peek.
ReplyDeleteI never spent much time studying my own belly button, but have always been intrigued by questions regarding mankind in general... you know, the "bigger picture", and my proper place in it. (Although, come to think of it, my belly has gotten quite a bit "bigger" since the '60s.)
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting stuff, and cool questions for us to think about. As for popular blog posts, the ones I post that get the most attention are those written by my weekly guests, plus anything that includes a list (Ten Things for whatever, Five Reasons for whatever).
ReplyDeleteAnd do I spend too much time looking inside myself? No, at least not recently. I need to take more time for meditation and introspection, but I keep letting my To Do List get too long.
Self-examination seems so self-indulgent but we all do it. As for blog stats - if I mention animals I get a load of comments, but while the Olympics have been on I have been deserted!
ReplyDelete