So what does 55% mean? I thought addiction was like pregnancy. Can someone be 55% alcoholic? I expected my blogging pathological score to be higher, given this daily practice I’m experimenting with, so I have to consider the source: it was originally sponsored by an online dating service where they probably encourage a high tolerance for online addictions. And the wording, “How Addicted Are You?” assumes a certain degree thereof.
Still, I’ll take it as freedom to encourage you to write daily, whether you blog or not. Come on in, it’s only 55% problematic.
Yes, we writers can get compulsive in the throes of a project–working crazy hours, neglecting health needs, ignoring loved ones. We can also use journaling in a meditative, exploratory way, actually listening for what our bodies and are loved ones are saying.
Addicts escape from painful feelings. Writing can immerse you in your feelings, expanding gratitude, and healing pain.
Addiction breaks every heart within striking distance. Writing can connect you with kindred souls.
Addiction is selfish; publishing, service.
Addiction damages brains, and wires them to require continuance of the self-destructive behavior. Writing fires neural pathways for memory, pattern recognition, critical thinking, problem-solving, and imagination.
Addiction destroys people and projects. Writing creates.
Another View on Blogging Itself:
James Delingpole, “Blogging’s Not a Job, It’s an Expensive Addiction” for Spectator
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Text © Gwyn Nichols 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Image from How Addicted to Blogging Are You?
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