What is Blaugust?

I had a go last year. Surprised myself and posted something most days. I never gave much thought to what benefit it had beyond the satisfaction of seeing the list of posts I published in August grow. The “community” aspect of it passed me by. Making connections online can feel a bit clunky like I am simply going through the motions. Whether it does again this year remains to be seen.

Just remembering now a book I read last year, “Sorry I’m late…. I didn’t want to come.” An autobiographical account of the author’s (Jessica Pan) efforts / experiments with doing things differently over the course of one year to overcome some unwanted outcomes of being introverted. A very funny book and full of ideas to play with.

In the “Crowd Control” chapter Jessica recounts advice she received about “radiating charisma”. Asking an open ended question, listening to someones answer, then showing how much you care about their response by asking a meaningfully follow up question like how did they feel about the thing they shared, what was it like, what appealed to them about it. Respond to their answer by validating their feelings.

Sounds a bit mechanical. Jessica notes without genuine interest it’s inauthentic and perceived as such. Going through the motions.

During Blaugust I shall be on the look out for people who write things I find interesting. Our attention is the most valuable thing we have to give. Best not to waste it.

In the mean time…