So You Want A Blog With Personality, Eh?

January 31, 2014August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 21 Comments

“In the midst of the personified impersonal, a personality stands here. Though but a point at best; whencesoe’er I came; wheresoe’er I go; yet while I earthly live, the queenly personality lives in me, and feels her royal rights.”

~ Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale

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Lately one Google search term has brought inquisitive minds to my blog. People arrive wanting to know:

HOW TO GIVE A BLOG A PERSONALITY.

When the inquisitive ones arrive here they find themselves looking at a post that I wrote called: Yea Verily, A Personality Test Doth A Blog Post Make. As this post talks about the variables that form a human being’s personality, I can only assume that the inquisitive ones leave here sad & uninformed.

WELL, THIS WILL NOT DO AT ALL.

Thus, as someone with a queenly personality, I am pleased to explain how I believe you give a blog a personality. Happy to do it, in fact. From what I can tell, there are four points to keep in mind.

#1 You, yourself, must have a personality that you are willing to share with the world. I’m not being snarky here, but I’ve come to realize that if you do not know who you are & how you want to be perceived by other people, then your blog will show it.

#2 Make your blog look stylish in a way that reflects who you are. Sounds shallow, but a smart-looking blog keeps readers coming back. Don’t know why, but it does. (See #1)

#3 Show up to your stylish blog on a regular basis and write posts that are the epitome of clarity, that give an insight into your values, that suggest an authentic person is keeping this blog. (See #1)

#4 Leave supportive, interesting comments on other blogs so that everyone who reads what you have to say will know that you have a personality– and that you’re not afraid to use it. (See #1)

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT.

Giving a blog a personality is really just about as simple as that. Not necessarily easy, but simple. And doable if you put your heart and mind into it.

Good Luck, inquisitive ones. I leave you with this blessing.

• • •

“May the blogging gods smile upon you– and reward your efforts with genuine followers, sincere likes & insightful comments.”

~ Ally Bean, The Spectacled Bean

Winter Beauty: A Simple Lesson In Perspective

January 23, 2014January 23, 2014 / Ally Bean / 10 Comments

Yesterday as I was going through some photos of winter scenes that I shot a few weeks ago, I was taken with the following simple lesson in perspective.

It’s a lesson that applies to photography as well as problems.

• • •

Sometimes the simplest things look complex & confusing when you see them up close. For instance, here is a tangle of brown tree branches covered in white snow.

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Step back, add a bit of a blue sky and the snow-covered brown tree branches begin to look less chaotic. In fact, from this angle the tree branches appear more organized & interconnected.

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Expand your perspective again and the snow-covered brown tree branches in the foreground become incidental to the clear blue sky that forms the background.

• • •

The simple lesson here?

By putting a little distance between you and whatever, you’ll see the big picture. And from that vantage point, we can only hope, you’ll understand what’s really going on.

Hello 2014…

January 2, 2014 / Ally Bean / 18 Comments

January. A new year. Snow.

Time for resolutions? Reconsiderations? Regrets, even.

Who to be. What to do. And why.

Stay curious. Learn something.

Keep moving. Be healthy.

Play nice. Have friends.

Get organized. Be productive.

Pray daily. Don’t panic.

More like guidelines, really. Not quite resolutions. Yet worthy of consideration.

Can do. A good way to live + love. This year.

And perhaps, forever.

Reflections On Dining Early & Sharing Happiness

December 18, 2013 / Ally Bean / 24 Comments

A FEW WEEKS AGO we drove four hours north to visit Zen-Den’s parents + his sister & her family. It was his mother’s birthday, so it seemed like a good time to see what was up with his mother and his father.

We arrived at his parents’ house around noon and spent the afternoon talking with them. Then around 4:00 p.m. we drove with his parents to a brand new Outback Steakhouse where we met his sister, her husband and their teenage daughter.

We were seated at a long table with banquette seating on one side of the table and chairs on the other. The room’s decor was modern with lots of muted dark colors in geometric patterns and large pendant lights with drum shades. The look reminded me of my late aunt’s home which was filled with mid-century modern furniture.

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WE RARELY HAVE THE opportunity to get together with Z-D’s family so sitting in this beautiful restaurant, eating good food, chatting, laughing was special for us, for me. It reminded me of when my parents were alive and I was a little girl. The three of us would go out to dinner somewhere fancy, usually early because my dad refused to wait for a table. And we would have the best time.

So with my happy past in mind, while sitting there at the Outback Steakhouse I took a moment to look around the table, to really see who was there. And I was struck by the strangest thoughts, out of nowhere. Fragments of my life, I suppose.

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I REALIZED THAT MY niece is the same age as I was when my father died. That my SIL looks so relaxed & happy that she could be half her age. That my BIL, who is retiring this year, is exactly ten years younger than my mother was when she retired. That my MIL, whose birthday we were celebrating, is turning the age that my mother was when she died. That my FIL is so lost in the fog of Alzheimer’s that I doubt that I’ll ever visit with the real man again.

And as for Zen-Den and I, here is what I observed: we are much older now, both physically and spiritually. In some ways, life has worn us out. On the other hand, we’ve learned, adapted, moved on so many times that somewhere along the winding way we’ve both developed deeper understandings of relationships, beliefs, limitations– and the value of focusing on shared happiness.

At an Outback Steakhouse, for instance. On an early Saturday evening. While dawdling around a table after dinner.