One of the saddest things that can happen in the world of blogging is when a good blogger goes silent.
It happens for any number of reasons of course. For some, the desire or need to write simply runs out - like so many things in life, a thing can have a force and meaning which over time disappears and is no longer a force. For some, just the burden of continuing to come up with something to write on a regular or semi regular basis can be overwhelming - after all, 99.9% of us do this for no other good reason than a love of words and on the whole, love does not pay particularly well. For the saddest of cases of all, the blogger does not get to make the choice but the choice is made for them (Requiscat In Pace, Ol' Remus of The Woodpile Report).
It was thus with a great deal of sadness this morning that I read that Claire Wolfe has elected (for all intents and purposes) to discontinue her blog.
I know that she is not everyone's cup of tea (to be fair, at one point in my life I would not have considered her so either), but she is (using the present tense; she is not "expired") someone whose writing I enjoy reading simply for the fact that - agree or disagree - it is well written and made me think, to the point that I actually read books she recommend which in turn modified my thinking. She became for me like Ol' Remus of the blessed memory above, or a cadre of bloggers that still write and whom I look forward to reading with relish (the list I look forward reading looks a lot like that list over there to the right) whenever I saw they had a new post as I curled up with my cup of coffee in the morning.
Her reasons for leaving are manifold: partially just that the drive to write of insanity in a world which is every day seemingly trying to outdo itself in said insanity has disappeared, partially because it simply costs money to operate a server in a time of increasing expenses and she prefers to allocate resources elsewhere, and (the most happiest part for me at least) partially that she has found good things in her life that she would much prefer to spend time on than continuing to dwell on the more disagreeable things of the modern world (which, to be fair, we all would).
Over the years here as I have written, I have found myself transitioning to a different kind of writing which is different in its genesis (for me, I really just do not like unpleasantness and conflict in the comments section) but ultimately the same in outcome: I have chosen to write about different areas other than current events and the general insanity not so much because it is not there (it is), but that my writings provide very little in the way of actual solutions to such problems - they become more a simple grousing about the way things are. That helps no-one ultimately: not me, not my readers, and not the situation in general. I would rather write about things that either provoke my thoughts or that I simply enjoy; the potential that they have an impact to fix any current issues is an accidental by-product, not the intent. And so when someone else makes the realization that the time has come to spend their life on happier things, I can only raise the proverbial glass and shout "Huzzah".
I am selfishly sad of course, the sort of selfishness that comes when a beloved local store or restaurant closes because the owner has decided to retire or simply move on: glad for them and sad for myself that I will no longer have the experience of shopping or eating there. At the same time, we are remiss if we do not in our selfish sadness take the opportunity to be grateful to the spot that they filled in our lives during that time. Our sorrow is most likely not so much from the inconvenience of not having access as it is to the fact that something we enjoyed will no longer be a part of our lives in the same way: not an active participant, but a happy memory.
I struggled with how to name this post; after all "Goodbye" or "A Requiem for" has the sort of finality that suggests something other than what Claire has decided to do, simply step into another place in life. As I pondered, the phrase from the Roman Poet Catullus "Ave atque Vale" - "Hail and Farewell" suggested itself. I post the translation of the poem here for completeness:
Carried through many nations and over many seas,
I arrive,
brother, for these wretched funeral rites
so that I might
present you with the last tribute of death
and speak in vain to
silent ash,
since Fortune has carried you, yourself, away from
me.
Alas,
poor brother, unfairly taken away from me,
now in the meantime,
nevertheless, these things which in the ancient custom of
ancestors
are handed over as a sad tribute to the
rites,
receive, dripping much with brotherly weeping.
And
forever, brother, hail and farewell. (Source)
Ave atque Vale, Claire.
I enjoy reading her blog as well, though not often. She is a gifted writer and am glad to have read her thoughts. I hope it isn't because of health reasons. Perhaps she will later decide to come back. Or not.
ReplyDeleteThat is what Life is. Finding great places - people, enjoying them and then experience losing them. I too greatly miss Remus and Woodpile, Tuesdays just aren't the same.
Yah, that feeling of sadness when you discover a blog is inactive, can certainly be the grieving process. A number of brick-and-mortar stores have gone away in the last two years, not being able to visit them....well...more sadness eh? That's the way to handle it TB, your title is spot on.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are at least you know. So many blogs go dark with nary a word why leaving me thinking the worst and feeling a bit betrayed. With a civilized exit, you can feel bittersweet, a much better feeling.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - I am hopeful that what she has written is really true: she is at the point where the good things in her life - Art, Trixie the Wonder Dog, and Rhett - are more worth spending time on. Selfishly I am hopeful that like all good writers, she can not stay away - but certainly understand if she does.
ReplyDeleteLife, as Kermit the Frog says in A Muppet Christmas Carol, is a series of meetings and partings. I will very much miss her weekly posts - just as I miss Ol' Remus of the Blessed Memory. How I crave his thoughts on the world now.
Nylon12 - I would like to take credit for the title, but in point of fact another poster on her website used the phrase. I just expanded on it.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a part of the maturity process - not so much the "I am not screaming over this" as the acceptance and the gratefulness for the happy memories.
Crunchycon - Thank you so much for coming by and your kind words.
ReplyDeleteClaire has been nothing but shockingly kind and generous to me and this blog through her support (and once, a link back!). She really is one of the sorts of people I wish I could meet in the flesh, yet realize this is likely never to happen.
Ed -Exactly. It is a real sort of kindness on the part of the author. Blogs in this sense are even more invisible than other mediums like books and movies in that so many write under nom de plumes; without a notification, one literally has no idea what happened - and due to the relationships that blogs seem to build, it is different than just a media outlet. People that follow blogs for a long time - like those that shop or eat at a place for a long time - actually come to be involved with the authors and at some level, care.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it does not make it any easier. I continue to miss sane and rationale voices that can write sane and rationally as they disappear like lamps winking out.
I go way, way back with Claire Wolfe. Long before the days of blogging, I was a big fan of Loompanics Press, and I have most of her books from those times of Libertarian enthusiasm. I was very pleased to find her blogging in the last few years, and I'll always treasure her wit and wisdom.
ReplyDeleteAs for libertarianism, big L or small l, 9/11 was a profound cluebat upside the head for me and disabused me of that naive ideology. Like many political "isms", it's a beautiful theory that has little practical hope or application to the fallen nature of human psychology. Although I'll always treasure my classical liberal education, I have long since outgrown those times, and my redneck roots have come out with a vengeance. I'll always have a fond spot in my heart for Claire and all those fellow travelers, whether we agree or disagree on principles. Thanks as always TB for a thoughtful post.
Greg - Thanks very much for the kind word.
ReplyDeleteI vaguely heard of Claire years ago (101 Things To Do 'til the Revolution) but did not even know she blogged until I found her a little over a year ago. I have found her writing cogent and her ability - I would also use the word "courage" - to confront a system has made me both a better writer and a little braver. She has certainly extended kindness to me by responding to some of my comments (by far the closest to an actual famous person I may ever come).
I will say the discussion of Libertarianism has certainly expanded my understanding of conservatism and conservative principles and I am certainly have reconsidered and refined my positions on some things as a result of it.
She will indeed be missed.
Well, TB, thank you for introducing me to a blogger worth reading who's decided to stop writing (said with some good humored sarcasm). I've only read her farewell post, and think I should bookmark her blog to go back and see what else she's had to say. She is a clever writer, and even though I didn't know her 10 minutes ago, I'm sitting here feeling sad she's gone - all the while hoping she comes back, as her avid readers are surely too.
ReplyDeleteBecki - The funny thing (funny to me, anyway) was that she had been writing for years and I only really "found" her a year ago. She had a sensibility about her that I always find intellectually attractive and was very logical in her thoughts. Simply put, she was a good writer and a joy to read. I am selfish in my own sorrow of course, but am happy that she has taken the opportunity to follow her bliss. It is very well earned.
ReplyDelete