who can tell the dancer from the dance?

I note with amusement that the number of "Followers" for this blog goes up and down like a tide, varying somewhere in the 12-18 range. How fickle some Followers can be.*

It does make me wonder what prompts a person to Follow this blog, and what prompts some to un-Follow it after a time. If I were to ask someone who had recently un-Followed this blog their reasons for doing so, I can immediately imagine two responses: (1) they had begun following the blog because they were intrigued by its content, and have become disappointed because the content no longer seems to be there; and (2) they began following this blog because of a kindred interest in religion and/or travel (etc.), but have soured on me personally, given my love of off-color humor (or whatever unsavory personal traits they think they see).

The above division separates people into two camps: those who follow the blog for its content, and those who feel/felt some connection with me personally. The people who latch on to the content will inevitably be less loyal that those who take more of an interest in me personally. Imagine that you're a fan of a particular sports commentator, and one day that person suddenly refuses to talk sports and instead talks about movies or the weather. You'd probably drop that person quickly, because you were never there to hear about movies or the weather; you were there to hear about sports. Now imagine the same situation, but change it so that you're a fan of the commentator, whose engaging, affable manner is what keeps you coming back. If this commentator suddenly jumps the track, you won't mind so much because you're already hooked: you'll be interested in this person's career trajectory, wherever it might lead.

With a blog like mine, the reader's perception and worldview count. This blog is primarily about me and my personal project-- a walk across America to learn something about American religious diversity. But what does that entail in terms of content?

Because I've taken a break since last September, I obviously haven't been blogging anything about walking, though I have written quite a few posts related to religion, philosophy, etc. during my down time. Because I've spent many months busy either with my family renovation project or my two current jobs as proofreader for two Korean establishments, I haven't slapped up as much overtly religion-related content as some might expect, especially if they were expecting daily doses of it.

But as one of the members of the Red Cedar Zen Center pointed out while he and I were talking about mundane matters, how is it not religious to speak of mundane things? That's why I say the reader's worldview matters: if, in your mind, you've created an unscalable wall that separates "religion" from everything else, then of course you'll think this blog has wandered from its primary purpose. What this blog is depends on how you view it, especially if your focus is on a narrow notion of what sort of content should appear here.

The other school, the folks who hang here less for content-related reasons than for personal reasons, won't have this sort of trouble, which is why they stick around. Their loyalty is assured, and they won't drop away unless I start doing something truly ugly online (I'll leave the meaning of "ugly" to your imagination).

None of which is to say that I resent the stupid bastards who un-Follow this blog. Verily I say: they have their reward.

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*The "Follow this blog" function is a Blogger gadget, which is why I've capitalized "Follower" in this context, to distinguish such people from regular readers who follow the blog simply by reading it more or less routinely, without e-subscribing to it.


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