Try this statement on for size: I have some personal responsibility to reduce the emissions that drive are driving global warming. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you agree with that statement, 1 being low, 10 being high?
I imagine that the average person in the U.S. is between a 2 and a 4, and that the average reader who lands at Diamond-Cut Life on a given day tips out at around 5. Me and my household? We’re at a 10. Big difference between those numbers.
I know that this blog can make people uncomfortable. I’m pointing up the need for change in our lives and our culture. I’m writing about more joy (appealing!) but also less consumption (alarm bells!) because our high rate of consumption is what’s driving global warming. My experience is that more joy and less consumption often go hand in hand.
But that principle swims against a strong tide, a whole ocean, of commercial interests, and also against the more selfish part of our human natures. I’ve got that immediate-gratification drive just like everyone does, but it’s like a child, and I don’t let it rule me. It has to answer to the adult in me, the one that cares about the other people in the room, and the other people on the planet.
In about 18 months of blogging I’ve worked my way up to an average of 3,500 hits/month. I have some steady readers in that mix, though it’s hard to see how many. But the blogs I know with high to VERY high readership, in contrast, share a specific thing in common: they focus only on the reader’s self-interest. They’re swimming with the mainstream, even if lowered consumption may be a part of it.
I intend to keep growing my readership, but I think I’ll make peace with standing for something different than most blogs do, and having somewhat fewer readers due to my focus beyond our immediate self-interest. I can’t stand passively by as global warming advances and threatens civilization. I have to call for change, be the change, and write steadily about it.
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Right on. There’s enough mainstream, Alison.
I think I probably rank about an 8, but my hubby is around a 3-4. We’re trying to find a happy medium that we can live with, but between you and I, I’ll always be nudging him!
Be well!
Standing for something different is important, and you should never waver in that!
I can’t help thinking, though … isn’t doing our part to prevent global warming — ultimately, not immediately — in our best self-interest?
Colleen, I’d say yes. Good point.
Deb: right on!