Not Buying Anything: What Do We Want, Really, Really Want?

Not Buying Anything: What Do We Want, Really, Really Want?:

Google Privacy Leap Day Post

A landmark event: at the stroke of midnight, new privacy policies go into effect for Google and all the products and services they control, like this blog.

I was hoping to adjust my privacy settings before the new rules kick in, so I found the Google Dashboard where I discovered - once again - I HAVE A BLOG!!

It was fun and refreshing to read my previous post, the one re-discovering my blog by accident in 2009.

Deja Vu, all over again.

I have a full and meaningful life, even if I do waste way too much of it sitting in front of screens. At least I haven't gotten the blog habit yet. It's strange to be so unsuccessfully resisting the march of technology into every aspect, every moment of my life, only to realize how I have succeeded. I kinda like these random notes to myself from the past. How many years will I make it before I finally give in and start blogging?

Virtuous Reality

Wow! I forgot I even had a blog. Amazing!

Not amazing that I'm forgetful, Amazing! that I was having a great time in my real life pursuing my private practice work with real clients and it never crossed my mind once that I needed to blog in the entire 17 months, since I opened it and published my first test-post. I wonder how many people blog as little as me.

I know that there are some great blogs out there, making the world a better place no doubt, because I hear from the media and from clients that they read blogs and they sometimes quote blogs. And I know that the more my clients get away from their computers and TVs, the faster they improve. Studies show our screen time is still creeping upward though, so I'm not going to delete my blog, just in case you stumbled onto this, looking for how to get help from me.

So what am I doing here today? A friend and colleague emailed me that her new super-duper therapy website was up and complete and getting her more referrals. She asked me to look at it and offered to help me with updating mine. Intrigued, and always looking for cheap, lazy ways to promote my practice to more people, I checked out her beautiful website --very nice-- and while I was looking, clicked a link to her blog -- which showed that her blog was "Not Found". So I clicked the Back button which linked me to Blogger.com and my own forgotten blog!

Nowadays I spend plenty of time at my computer and plenty of time watching TV, and maybe that's why I'm so happy that I have a blog, and didn't even know it! It has asked for almost nothing from me, ever, except for this quick update, and yet here it is alive and well on the web all this time.

So as long as my test-blog is here, and doesn't need me, I can keep living my life to the fullest in 'virtuous reality' where I do exist in real-time. Oh, I hope I can forget it again! That would be so cool! It's going to be harder to forget this time because, well, because I've been here again.

Until next time, Happy Interwebbing, Boys and Girls!
... and don't forget to sleep.

Day One

Getting started is half the battle and I have been told to start a blog to market my business since 2004. So today's the day! Pretty exciting stuff except that I still don't really want to do this. I'm only doing it because I was told to.

I have never actually read a blog. I hear they are cool. I have no plans to make a daily entry, no need to make a daily entry. I'm not burning with desire to express myself or spend on emore minute sitting at my computer. In fact I tell my clients to get up from the computer whenever possible. I have a great time being face to face with my clients, plenty of expression there.

So my only question is, will this blog really help people find me on the net?

I have a website that covers the basics of my counseling practice. You can view it:

http://home.comcast.net/~michael.foster2/

If you are viewing this and you end up coming to see me, mention it when you come in. I would love to know how this really impacts people looking for a counselor. THANKS!