Why I decided *not* to do LJ Idol

[tinuvial]

As I started to work on my "Intro" post for the first week of LJ Idol, I realized that competing just to increase the readership of my LJ is the antithesis of what I am all about. I'm about living life simply, honestly, without caring what anyone else thinks of me. LJ Idol is, in essence, a popularity contest.

I'll admit, I had doubts that I was up to the challenge. While I do "write to be read" and not for myself, there is still the fact that I have a competitive streak a mile wide. A streak that I don't want to encourage, because it runs counter to my beliefs that we are all connected, and that competition diminishes the whole.

I want to write from my heart, about the things that give my life meaning. I do not necessarily write about the mundane, though it seem like at times, the mountain of laundry in my hamper is the biggest challenge in my life. I have wrapped myself in a cocoon of my own making the last couple of years, and the butterfly is beginning to emerge.

If I write things that other people want to read, they will find their way here. Either by word of mouth, or the vagaries of fate. Not by a deliberate self-aggrandizing competition. So in trying to introduce myself for the competition, I discovered I really didn't want to pay the price to be discovered.

I still encourage anyone interested in my newest writing project to sign up to be on the book filter. This is perhaps the most daunting task I have ever laid out for myself. Simple, yet daunting nonetheless.

I love you, my readers. I am grateful for every day that someone chooses to read the words that I share. I am grateful for so many things. The hum of the fan in my office, the changing colors of autumn visible outside my window, and the feel of the keyboard beneath my fingertips.

I can. I will. I am.

Ciao for now.