I follow the WP Daily Post for the Weekly Photo Challenges. It also posts other useful tidbits and features posts that it finds noteworthy and suitable to be picked for Freshly Pressed, the highly desirable selection that gets you noticed in all the right places 🙂
A couple of posts featured that have been of note, one was about a rape experience and one was about suicide. I know there are other funny clever witty options, but I have found the selection held up for my delectation lately to have been of a decidedly dark and often controversial tone. In fact I remember reading in one of the ‘Tips to get FP” posts that being controversial is a good thing. Since I read the rape experience post today its been bugging me and I was thinking about it in the car on the way home. (Edit to add : I think its really important that those kinds of discussions *are* had, and I like that WP provides an environment where people feel safe and able to have them, that says a lot of positive things about the WP community that cannot be overlooked)
You see, this is not that kind of blog. Not that I don’t have controversial opinions, on a recent discussion about should children be allowed in fancier restaurants, I would probably have been banned for life for how out there my personal opinions are, and I wanted to post SO MUCH.
Instead I choose to share my world with you through photography, and the experiences and challenges I have learning my craft. Those of you who have been following for the last couple of years (and I heart you all BTW) will know that the city I live in has been devastated with two massive earthquakes and I have shown you some of that.
Thats not what my life is about, yes it is a big part of it, and we all have to live with it every day. There are other things as well, ducklings and spring flowers and art and grafitti and food and lovely scenery. I chose to share my life visually and hopefully in a positive way, to encourage other photographers who started from the same beginnings I did, with a camera I had no idea how to use and a confusing manual that didn’t help much and a big hole in my bank account being all I had to show for it at the time.
So no major controversy here, no navel gazing, no deep philosophical discussion, no politics or science or gender wars. Yes there must be a place for that kind of discussion and I fully support that, but we all have to live with some element of those in our lives one way or another. I choose conciously to bring beauty to my readers, to offer help and support and hopefully inspiration to other photographers. I chose to share the good bits of my life because too damn often all you hear about in the news is all the other stuff.
And that, dear readers, is why I will never be Freshly Pressed. You know, now that I have thought about and written this, I am pretty OK with that!
Forget-me-not
Learning to See Light 
Being Freshly Pressed has a certain randomness about it too, so you never know. I have seen people who have been pressed, a sudden influx of likes and comment, then back to normal. 15 minutes of fame WP style, but few follows from it.
Thanks Alex, I have often wondered at the long term benefits myself. I hope that people who follow my blog do so for a consistent quality rather than a flash of momentary amusement 🙂 Appreciate the comment
My thoughts exactly … One may wonder whether “good news” stories about the beauty and positives in every day life is noteworthy … Sorta reads like the media .. Unless its dark and ‘horrific, political, sports or gossip, the public aren’t interested or so they would have us believe … Great post thankyou 🙂
Thankyou, it so often feels that good news is not to be truly appreciated, so I really try to have a positive approach to my blog. Many nice people seem to read it and even post comments so I feel like I am achieving a good outcome with what I post.
and i think that is the most important thing 🙂
I never even read freshly pressed cos I’m not interested in the doom and gloom, and I’ve ever seen them feature any of the sort of excellent craft art or history blogs I’d be interested in. I actually think the corporate side of wordpress ignores anything that isn’t edgy – even the find interesting blogs function doesn’t have any sections that interests me
I wouldn’t fret about it either – me ad thee can just be the nerdy ones in the corner ignoring the cheerleaders and the jocks
LOL us nerds have to stick together 🙂
I had tried in the past to write all of the beautiful, useful and positive things about life with the hope that they get noticed and pressed. But no, never. When I wrote about my jerky experience with the demons in a possessed 17-year old girl ( http://maxim061156.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/in-the-shoes-of-an-exorcist-part-1/ ) , my post got featured by freshly pressed. In there I had exposed all the weird, horrific and horrible things about exorcism. I had imagined that had I perished in that terrible experience or was defeated by the demon, my piece might have landed as the chosen one for the month. This seems to be the kind that would please WP people. I hope I am wrong, otherwise, we are being introduced to a dangerous writing paradigm here.
Thankyou, yes you expressed my concern clearly, it is a dangerous paradigm and I feel it is one that is not particularly subtle and I wonder why it is necessary. I REBEL!!!!
Never say never! It’s true that the last few posts we’ve highlighted on The Daily Post have been heavy ones, but if you read a bit further back, you’ll find many other kinds of content; we try to keep it varied. And while controversy is interesting, so are personal reflections, great photography, fiction and poetry, and and number of other topics.
Hi Michelle and thanks for dropping by, appreciate the comment and the positive outlook 🙂
You are a person I can relate to. Life isn’t always about “heavy” stuff. Well said and I agree with you. Thank you.
Thanks, its nice to know I am not alone here in the wilderness 🙂
🙂
are you accepting members? then count me in 😉
kinda new on word press & i don’t think i’d be featured in fp either. compared to other posts, my blog won’t measure up, me thinks.
but i hope to brighten up one’s gloomy day 🙂
Happily accept members, always good to meet another blogger with the same kind of aims – brightening a gloomy day works for me, I hope I achieve that too!
I’m with you on this one 🙂 I doubt I will ever be FP’d – just trying to post some pretty little pics from my corner of the world! And yours are beautiful 🙂
I definitely agree with you. I feel like life is already dark and morbid as it is. If I’m going to write something I want it to be a little-hearted or encouraging. Your pictures are beautiful by the way:)
Thanks, its nice to know I am not alone in my wish to bring something good to the world 🙂