I am sure all of us have considered the reasons why we are involved in ActiveRain, and probably more than once or twice. I started out on the blog-site because the material I was writing, and laboring over, was not being read, really by anyone. I thought I had some things to say, and I was looking for an audience to say them to. The Julia Childs movie spoke to me in terms of there being a dialogue between well-informed people out there somewhere, and perhaps ActiveRain was the venue where I could create same.
So, I started writing and writing and writing on ActiveRain and eventually people started to read my stuff and make comments. Along the way, I have developed what I call ARR's (ActiveRain Relationships), and they have worked out well for me. I have people, literally from all over our nation, with whom I have developed a comity, and I see these relationships getting even stronger in the future.
But, then, there was this issue with the points, and my competitive fires were sparked, because for a reason I am not sure I really know, I wanted to be Number One in Boston, Massachusetts. Well, I have been in that position for a while, and I know that being Number One in Massachusetts is out of the question [we have some "whales" who are 400,000 points or so ahead of me, and still going strong]. So, now I need to get a hold of myself, and figure out why I continue to write stuff, and comment, and stay involved.
I have come up with the concept of ARES, the ActiveRain Engagement System, and it seems to fit. What I am getting from writing and commenting is the ability to engage smart people on many different aspects of our profession. We can, from time to time, disagree on substance. But, we do not disagree that constructive dialogue is the key to our fulfillment on ActiveRain. We are really point, in some instances, where I know that something I am writing will elicit a constructive comment from one of my ARES "regulars", and I look forward to the discussion.
This brings me to the point of this post. If you are still hooked on accumulating points, and being Number One somewhere in ActiveRain nation, I think you are not getting as much out of ActiveRain as you should. If your comments are banal, or trite, or repetitive, because you know that you can accumulate 250 points a day by doing so, I cannot stop you. On the other hand, it is my belief that your time is better served by writing fewer comments, and giving them some real thought. That is one man's opinion. I know one thing for sure. I have never enjoyed writing more than I do now, and when I am lucky enough to have a post "featured", I feel great. I also feel great when a friend on ActiveRain sends me an email, outside of the blog-site, with a question, comment or referral. That , to me, is ARES is action, and I am hoping it gets stronger and stronger as the years go by.
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