life, nature, photography

It’s not really what this blog is about

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photo by Sylvia

I want to write about the state of our political world, the injustice, the oversight, the ignorance—but that’s not what my blog is about, I don’t talk about politics

I want to write about the state of our collective consciousness, the pros and cons of a hive-mentality, the necessity of it for survival as well as its potential to negatively influence culture—but that’s not what my blog is about, I don’t talk about morals

I want to write about being a citizen of the world, how average people don’t immigrate for fun—folks leave their country, their language, their food, their families, their jobs, their homes in order to improve their lives and the lives of their children by prospering in a safe environment. There is a protocol for immigration, that is understood. There are laws to be observed in order for a society to function, all very true. But desperate people do desperate things. And if you’ve never been desperate in this life, count yourself lucky—but that’s not what my blog is about, I don’t talk about empathy

I want to write about misogyny—the idea that in the year 2025 we still shame victims of abuse, we still use laws to control women’s bodies, we still base medical testing on males only, we are willing to vote for a convicted criminal rather than a black woman—but that’s not what my blog is about, I don’t talk about racial and gender equality

It might be time to bring this little blog that is 11 years old to a close for now. I’m not sure, I’ll have to think a bit more upon it. I’ve lost my enthusiasm for making my writing public on this forum. I’ve always thought of the writing here as a bit of a respite from reality. But, I don’t know, I can’t quite work out if it’s shallow in the face of so much that is wrong in our lives or a testament to all that is right in my own (privileged) life, most likely a little of both.

I’ll leave you for now, with some images that I do blog about: a robin’s egg found in a potted fern, irises and my little sweet girl, Juliet. Be well readers, walk the world with as much inner peace as you can possibly acquire.

photo by Sylvia
photo by Sylvia
photo by Sylvia
photo by Sylvia

57 thoughts on “It’s not really what this blog is about”

  1. Sylvia, I hope that you will keep your site going, your photography is always beautiful and that says a lot about YOU.

    I too have occasionally wanted to close my blog down but then I would begin to miss it and the people I have been online friends with, sometimes for many years like you.

    Our world is becoming more of a mess each day and this is not the America I grew up in. I don’t like it here much anymore but there’s nowhere else to go…

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    1. Well, I just wrote a small novel replying to your comment and then had to delete it because…too many thoughts. But yes, I agree with you John. My daughter is volunteering with a local group of immigrants here in the city and I think maybe that’s the key. Maybe if we all keep our heads and understand that any extreme is dangerous (I am always on the wrong side of things because of my “middle of the spectrum position” on most issues), staying calm, logical, fearless, and yet having empathy and kindness and respect seems the right way to me, but the entire world seems upside down.

      Thank you for your kind words. I do appreciate them, always.

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      1. You are welcome, Sylvia.

        Our world is more and more upside down day by day. I’m 64 and grew up in a different America.

        This America is going down the slippery slope so fast, it makes me sad. And, people keep starting families? What kind of world will they inherit?

        I asked my dad a bout three or four years ago (he died last year) if America has seen its best days. He said he thinks America is on the way down. Seen its best days…

        He was 96. America today makes me angry, people are destroying a great nation and don’t care. 😡😭

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  2. Moment to moment isn’t shallow to me. It’s the Design for Living, the art of being /keeping/maintaining spiritual fitness no matter what is going on, on the outside. This keeps me balanced and effective.

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  3. I so hear you, Sylvia. With my own site I swing from posting some things publicly to making it all private. I’ve done this so many times over the many years I’ve had an online journal! (Dreamwidth allows you to make entries Public/FriendsOnly/Private.) Today, since I’m

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  4. I sympathize with your inner conflict, Sylvia. I hope you stay. We need photos of beauty and hope, that share a connection to nature, and your blog shares all those hopeful things. There is enough ‘reality’ being shared out there, we need to remember the simple and the pure. 🙏🏼 💜

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      1. Word press has let me down with wrong info. I’ve never replied via email before (to leave a word) but glad it worked. What I was saying is that methods I’ve used to see me through difficult times don’t seem to be providing the much needed relief these days. Blogging, knitting, reading etc..

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  6. Certainly not wanting, or even can, make light of our current state… There was a Sunday cartoon named Pogo. He was a possum who lived in a swamp with swamp critter friends and family. One Sunday he said the most honest thing.

    ‘ I have met the enemy, and he is us’.

    I think that is fitting for today.

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  7. I’ve been doing this for quite some time as well, and I completely relate to what your saying. I too have considered hanging it up from time to time, only to realize I would miss the creative outlet and that little corner of sanity it provides. For what it’s worth, your efforts always provide that spark of inspiration and breath of fresh air we all need to weather the circus around us. Would hate to see you go, but I certainly understand what your saying. Whatever you decide, all the best to you!

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  8. I understand and appreciate what you have said here. However, I respectively disagree. Take the time to think about the beauty of creativeness and thoughtfulness you have presented to your readers over the eleven years. Yes, the crisis we are in both in the States and abroad is beyond disheartening, at times if feels crushing. Yet your post uplifts others. Personally, there are times I ask myself, “Why bother blogging? I am not going to change things.” But then I stumble upon someone like you. I am reminded of the goodness of listening to the voice of others who point to beauty around us, as you did with the photographs here. This is your decision to make. But, again, think of the light you have shared of yourself, how that brightens and uplifts others.

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    1. I thank you for this comment Charles. I’ve tried to remain positive in my blog (for the most part) if only to force myself to always allow room for beauty and thankfulness. Maybe a temporary break from the blog will help me move along in the right direction.

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  10. I pretty much stopped posting on my blog when I switched from photography to botanical art. That’s on instagram @lynnjwiles. I sometimes do miss blogging. We are in such strange times, where cruelty is foremost.

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    1. I will look you up on Instagram Lynn, and yes it’s so hard to wrap our minds around it. I hear folks, that I have known to be good and kind, saying and thinking unkind and cruel things and I really have no words for it.

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  11. Hi Sylvia,

    I understand where you’re coming from, just wanting your little quiet corner, talking about things you want to talk about. Over the last two years, I have taken and transformed my dad’s blog and go in a different direction. The main transformations were out of necessity, others because our interests, my interests, lie elsewhere.

    Unfortunately, there are always a handful … I have to choose my words carefully here. “Why don’t you write about this, write about that?” The short answer is, “This is my space, not yours.” We have a steady diet of the everyday out there. At some point, we need to leave what’s out there, there. Retreat back into the quiet.

    If chose to leave, you might need to save this …

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orptBZCX53Q

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  13. Thank you for bringing in sunshine to my world.
    Thank you for sending me where I had never been before.
    Thank you for showing me new books and words.
    Thank you for beautiful flowers.
    Thank you for wonderful photos of your world.
    Thank you Sylvia is what this comment is about 🥰

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  14. Why not create a 2nd blog. Continue to post about the beauty you see in the world and maybe, under a pseudonym, create a blog to address issues. Vent on one, and just enjoy the other. Life will continue either way.

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  16. Mine isn’t a political blog either but I have found myself blogging about it anyway; I felt it necessary and incumbent to do so. I hope you are able to come back at some point; your posts are beautiful and you will be missed.

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  17. Dear Sylvia,
    I’m from Germany and while all the things that are going on in the US do not really affect us here, we all feel with you guys. That is not the America I grew up with, but I know you guys will get it back.
    Please do not stop posting your art and maybe you start talking. Do not let those people take your light away from you. You make other people smile with your posts, you spread joy and that was never so much needed like in these days.

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  18. I rarely comment on someone else’s blog but I see that you have the same doubts I also have regarding the necessity of what I’m doing. I blog for more than 20 years in English, which is not my native language. I have seen a lot of change both in the world and online. I am from Romania (European Union), a country you perhaps heard of, as it was given as a bad example of democracy by the current US administration (our leaders have canceled the presidential elections on reasons few believe to be true). There are nuances and nuances, things are more complex, but people take many things out of their context if they serve their interests. Also, what is common-sense is now thrown in the background, and people are incited to become polarised on ideological themes that should not be reasons for division. I work in the mental health field (psychiatrist) and I was vocal for years against the extremes, while advertising critical thinking and a balanced world view. I also did my best to educate my audience about the mental health issues, touching from time to time political aspects that were creating obstacles and highlighting the way some things are managed. This has attracted criticism, some undesired publicity, and I finally ended blogging only about photography (although some still try to guess if there aren’t hidden messages in my photos). I wrote the lines above so as to perhaps show you that you are not alone with your doubts and that the world seems to trully go through a less better period. But I also think that keeping a blog, even if for photography only, has some benefits. It’s an exercise of perseverance and discipline (11 years is a lot), it forces you to remain creative and also to write (did you notice that the younger generation loses the ability to write in a coherent manner, especially after the emergence of ChatGPT and the AI in general? ). Then, regarding the impact each of us wants to have in the world (that’s why most people keep a blog, in general, we want to share beauty or our thoughts, but actually we’re after having some sort of impact), I guess that our own way of being in the “offline world” will become more important (since we’re practically beginning to self-censor online). Yes, we will probably need to learn to lead by example and influence others by our way of behaving in the “real” world. And the photography will remain just an internet hobby (although I admit that I, personally, still drop a text-only blogpost from time to time, carefully screened for nuances, and sufficiently general so as not to be weaponized). In the end, I don’t know what you’ll do and I don’t know what I’ll do, it is not nice what’s happening in this world. But I just wanted to share my view and thanks for reading it!

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    1. Blogging is definitely an exercise in perseverance, I completely agree and remaining creative is key to mental health (for me). It is nice to know I’m not alone in experiencing these thoughts, thank you so much for commenting.

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  19. I want to write about these things as well but, alas, that’s not what my blog is about either. I’m so tired of this crazy world and the people running it. I’m tired of their meanness and the perverted pleasure they find in their lies and cruelty. I’m tired of people not using the correct words to describe them. What they are doing is unAmerican.

    And I’m angry. So angry.

    And then I remembered that, while I shouldn’t write about these things, I can give people distraction through pretty pictures, stories of travel and things that might inspire them to be better.

    I’m here to remind others that there’s more to the world than our leaders say and to give them a pleasant distraction from it all.

    And then I feel better.

    I hope you will feel better as well.

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  20. Dear Sylvia I’ve followed you for many many years. Your blog is a bit like mine I think focusing on the beauty of life…but I understand fully your inner conflict, how can one focus on beautiful things while the world is on fire. You can do both and give us the light and the dark. I’ve been doing that lately and if people don’t like it if you talk about the serious issues in our world don’t worry about them, just write from your heart, I’ll be listening and reading

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  21. This was such a beautiful post. It echoes so much of the weight the world places on us by the behaviour of only some of us. It sends me into a sad place and staying hopeful is hard.

    Well said, beautifully said and thank you for the lovely images. By accident today I met some lovely people and like the images the thought of this soothes the heart.

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  24. This is a very beautiful blog, but a very heartfelt and moving one two. Thank you!

    I have not been active for a long time now, and in getting back, I am amazed at how much I have missed! So many beautiful photographs by so many great photographers. I must try to keep active!

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  27. I’m a retired psychiatrist and what I do mostly on my blog is tell dad jokes and talk about cribbage and juggling, which I’ve done a lot of in the last several years. I started blogging back in 2010 and then stopped-but not for long. I went back to blogging again-stopped-and then restarted. I don’t write about much of anything political. I have links to the blogs of colleagues I respect on my home page. They do the heavy lifting I won’t do. I respect and admire them. I see that many respect and admire you. I will keep making dad jokes, juggling, bird watching, and playing cribbage. I hope you keep doing what you do.

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  28. I can only agree with you about your questions… (I don’t have the answers).

    I’ve also found an echo to my thoughts about going on blogging or not. I have met a number of incredible people, but I wonder whether I can still post on “mundane” issues while the world is going to hell in a handbasket, as Americans say. (Or si I heard.)

    Here’s a coupla questions:

    1. What would make you keep on blogging?
    2. What else would you do? (Knowing the world can’t really be fixed, can it?)

    Be good, Sylvia.

    Brian…

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