Breaking Rules

Breaking the rules

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There are so many rules to having a presence online.  I know them well. After all, I tell them to my clients, because the rules are there for a reason. When it comes to blogs, I tell people that they are like babies, they need a lot of care and feeding before they grow. Another rule is that you must post so often, usually daily, and you need to post consistently.

The fact is “rules” can hold you back. I knew going into this that there would be days because of my Addison’s disease that I would struggle.  I thought I couldn’t start a blog until it improved  because I might not always feel up to posting. That is pretty much what Addison’s does to you. Each day is different because your adrenal gland doesn’t produce enough steroids. Kind of like diabetes except you can’t control it with diet but you are constantly worrying about how much steroids you need. I still haven’t gotten the hang of stress-dosing. And you often don’t feel well. I call it the Princess and The Pea syndrome because my muscles will hurt so that a ruffle in the sheet can cause pain.

But we all have our issues. Normal is a setting on the dryer, right?

Trying to follow the rules held me back for so long. It was a great way to procrastinate. I have a great excuse. I am constantly working to improve my health but I may never get to the point where I feel good every day. That is just life. So the choice is to retreat and not do what I want, or to say f-it and break the rules.  (Studies show that swearing helps reduce pain!)

The fact is I see a lot of the supposed “online success” rules broken on some acceptably popular sites.

So first, thank you for your patience on days when I am not my best. But most importantly, what rules are holding you back from your goals and why are you not breaking them?

Have a great day!

Paula

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Quick Links: But When I Do It, It’s Really Stylish

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

I love this post by , first because I am a massive Red Dwarf fan, but also because Jo tells us to go ahead and take some writing chances, break a few rules. Go to Writer Unboxed to see for yourself.

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But When I Do It, It’s Really Stylish

July 2, 2016 By Jo Eberhardt

Girl In The Summer Sun Wearing SunglassesI grew up on 80s British comedy. (Which possibly explains everything you ever need to know about my writing style.) Yes, Minister taught me about politics. Blackadder taught me about history. Are You Being Served? taught me about… well, lots of things. And Red Dwarf taught me about science fiction.

In fact, Red Dwarf taught me a lot of lessons, and one of the ones I come back to time and time again is from the most feminist episode I’ve ever seen in any TV show ever: ‘Parallel Universe’.

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of watching Red Dwarf, the two main characters are Arnold Rimmer, a socially awkward, sexually repressed hologram, and Dave Lister, a slobbish, easygoing lad’s lad whose skills include drinking lager and eating vindaloo spicy enough to melt through plastic. In ‘Parallel Universe’, they’re accidentally transported to a parallel dimension where everything is the same… except that women are the dominant gender. There, they meet their female equivalents who, obviously, try to get them into bed.

Hi-jinks ensue as the boys come to terms with being objectified and, in Lister’s words dealing with women who “think of men in the exact same way [we] think of women…. it’s disgusting.” But my favourite part of the episode is the conversation that takes place about female-Lister’s attempt to seduce male-Lister:

Lister: She tried to impress me by drinking six pints of lager and belching the whole of Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Rimmer: That’s your party piece, isn’t it?

Lister: Yeah, but when I do it, it’s really stylish, man.

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