Regular readers may have noticed that I have recently returned to something akin to a blogging schedule after years of blog negligence.

I like blogging and it has never been something I have especially wanted to ‘avoid doing’ but life sometimes gets in the way of me writing about…well…life.

But recently a concerted effort has been made by me to write more posts on this blog. As there is very little time in my life to plan what I’m going to write about then I tend to just write about stuff that is happening at the moment. Often quite literally the moment that I’m writing. Although truth be told, I don’t write as fast as life happens so usually by the time I finish composing whatever it is I’m composing, be it a rhyme about shoes, a haiku about an empty coffee cup or an extended piece about my daughters choosing which ice lolly they want to eat (or allow to melt all over them), the thing I started writing about has long since finished happening.

I make no apologies for this methodology. Were I to try and write at the same pace as life happens, then my writing would be an incoherent mess, rather than the delightful compositions I produce about banalities.

Anyway, the point of all of this, is that I don’t really write about anything much and even when I did have more time, back in the golden era of the early days of this blog, circa 2017-2018, when I had no children and there was no pandemic and I was optimistic that one day I might amount to something as a writer, in spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I had no real right to expect anyone to read what I write.

But back then people did. Quite a lot of people really. But I did make a bit more of an effort to engage with the blogosphere back then and I used to read a lot of other blogs and comment on them and really blogging felt like a bit of a community.

These days it feels somewhat less so, but that is possibly more of a ‘me thing’ than a reality thing. I’m sure there are lots of bloggers who write regularly for their own blogs and still find time to comment, ‘like’ and, dare I say, even subscribe to other blogs. I’m not one of those people and this is less for curmudgeonly reasons and more because I really don’t have much time for anything at all. I don’t even really have time to be writing this.

So I have no right to expect anyone to read what I write. Yet a few people still do. Which is lovely really and it does make it feel fairly worthwhile. Even if it probably isn’t.

And actually I prefer having a small number of readers because it’s a lot less effort to maintain a blog with a small number of readers. There are very few expectations and consequently I always meet those expectations.

Back in the early days I did write with a slightly different view. I intended to grow an audience, I wanted people reading this stuff and frankly, often in spite of the content, people did. At the time I was greedy and I felt that the numbers were never high enough and I deserved more acclaim than I was getting.

WordPress, the faceless corporate entity that hosts this blog, used to have something called ‘Freshly Pressed’ which was a sort of showcase for the blogposts that they deemed to be of merit. Being ‘Freshly Pressed’ really meant something and it was an accolade I craved. I crafted many a post in those days that I was sure would meet the approval of the faceless editors and I felt it was but a matter of time before I was plucked from obscurity and thrust into the spotlight.

But alas it never happened. And then WordPress discontinued the thing. And life happened and got in the way of me writing about life and while the blog never truly disappeared, it has definitely been through a few wilderness years.

There has been the odd flurry of activity on here over the years, but since early 2022, it’s been very hit and miss. More miss than hit if I’m honest.

Weirdly I have been pretty consistent at producing an annual homage to movies with a tenuous link to Christmas every December and I’ve been doing that since 2017. Oddly enough, even when my blog was fairly popular, those posts never really were that popular, so it’s bizarre that I kept that going when all else seemed to crumble. Although it is a very ‘me’ thing to do. Persevering with material that no-one really likes while failing to produce the stuff that people actively seem to enjoy. James Proclaims has always been a little self-indulgent in truth. Even though I really do want people to enjoy what I write, I make absolutely no effort to write the things I know people will enjoy.

But, back in June I instigated something of a revival of the blog, by introducing a proper blogging schedule. I reasoned that regularity would bring me solace and help me make sense of the world inside my head by getting all the nonsense therein down on paper. Well, virtual paper. No trees were knowingly harmed in the making of this post, although I imagine the Earth’s resources have been depleted in other ways.

But the key to this comeback has been a more grounded approach. To enjoy blogging for blogging’s sake and to be grateful for the small number of readers I have.

So imagine my dismay when my very first comeback post became ‘Freshly Pressed’. Apparently Freshly Pressed and James Proclaims are on a similar comeback trajectory.

Suddenly there were people reading and liking and commenting on a post about a supermarket delivery driver being stung by a nettle in my front garden.

Which is weird.

That post is now my most ‘liked’ post by a country mile.

I like it, but it’s nowhere near the best thing I’ve ever written.

And you know what?

I don’t really believe all those people really did like it.

For a few days it was a tad hedonistic.

But actually it didn’t really mean very much.

None of the supposed ‘likers’ seemed to like any of my other posts. Or even to ‘like’ them.

The comments section went a bit weird too.

It’s like a comments section of two halves. All the comments that predate July are from people who actually do read my blog, people who’ve stuck with me even during the lean years when I didn’t really deserve any readers.

And then afterwards there were a load of insincere comments, from people who clearly hadn’t read the thing.

Comments from people like Karl who wrote “What a supremely, interesting article and an angle that isn’t always covered “

Really Karl? Really?!

What angle is normally covered when dealing with the topic of an awkward encounter with a delivery driver who’s been stung by a nettle in my front garden? What new angle did I bring to that debate?

As far as I can see being Freshly Pressed has brought nothing to my life, except disappointment.

Because people are still clicking the ‘like’ button.

Which means that I get all excited that someone is responding to one of my new posts (and lately there have been a lot of new posts) only to discover it’s the bloody delivery driver post getting liked again.

So actually WordPress, in the unlikely event you feel like Freshly Pressing one of my posts again, please don’t.

Unless it’s this one.

You can Freshly Press this to your heart’s content.

But I bet you won’t!