This is my hundredth post on Ahu Eats. Besides being kindof crazy, it’s made me reflect on this food blogging adventure. I asked myself – why do we do what we do? (sometimes to annoy people, sometimes to help them make & discover delicious things, and always because we are passionate about food).
Source: Corridor Kitchen
So, do we blog because we love food, love writing or just to annoy David Chang? My theory is… no one of those things on their own. A few years ago I read a fascinating book called Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew Crawford that really framed the way I now think about all of this. Crawford delves into the merits of being a skilled worker – or having a craft – which has quickly become looked upon as less than desirable in a society where more and more people have become ‘knowledge workers’. What’s a knowledge worker? Well, you’re probably one – especially if your main work product includes emails, powerpoints, or spreadsheets.
Not to say that being a knowledge worker is a bad thing (I myself work in the corporate office of a bank by day where powerpoint and excel are my BFFs), but Crawford touches on an interesting point – that it’s an innate human desire to craft things – to have some sort of physical manifestation of our work. What does this have to do with being a food blogger? I’m going to venture to guess that most of us are in fact some type of knowledge worker and are not able to create something to satiate that need during our day job. So the food blog becomes our craft. And we want to share it with the world.
Although a love of food / cooking / eating drives all food bloggers, it is not an easy endeavor. While fun and rewarding, it requires an incredible amount of planning (content calendar!), skill (cooking! writing! photography & editing!), and just plain dedication. We wake up at ungodly hours on the weekend to cook in time to get the best light to photograph our food, and some bloggers have 6 months of posts planned ahead of time – food blogging requires more strategic foresight than you might think!
My own food blogging journey has been an eventful one. In the last 6 months, I’ve put in hundreds of hours cooking, baking, writing, photographing, editing, tweaking my site and connecting with other bloggers. All of this while juggling a demanding day job and trying to maintain my sanity – I can tell you that I would not have done it were it not for the love of the craft. Do I sometimes struggle to get a post out because of a hectic week or want to give up when my photos get rejected from BigFoodSharingSites? Yes and yes. But I (we) keep on. Seeing the results of the work feeds me, and my long-term vision keeps me on my path. So we keep writing, cooking and eating!
All those dishes, millions of photos, dozens of posts, and that website we so lovingly tinker with – that is our craft, our baby. We aren’t chefs, restaurateurs or professional food critics – nor do we claim to be. But we keep cooking, photographing, eating, testing, tinkering with our baby… and once in a while somebody stops by and appreciates it – and that is the best feeling.
As someone who has over 1300 posts on my blog I admit I’ve pondered the “why” quite a bit. But the truth is I don’t know why. I used to be a “better” blogger. More connected to the community. More attuned to my traffic and audience. More interested in trends and new ideas. I went to conferences, I even write two books. I did all the things I thought bloggers were “supposed” to do to be considered a “success”. But as the years passed I began to realize, I wasn’t really interested in all those things so much. But I still loved blogging. It’s the cooking, or the writing, or the photos. It’s not the community. It’s certainly not the glamor or the money. Or rather I should say it’s not just one of these things. Blogging is a unique combination of skills and passions. It’s the combination I love and can’t think of anything else in my life that that combines so many of my passions into one tangible thing. Maybe that’s how Mr. Crawford defines craft… I don’t know. But here I am, almost 6 years later– still pecking away at this keyboard, taking photos, leaving comments and of course cooking. GREG
Greg – thank you for your thoughtful comment and openness. I’m glad you returned to the core of what you enjoyed about blogging. There is a lot of ‘extra’ stuff that goes along with blogging that can sometimes detract and make work of the process. I hope you keep at it and more importantly keep loving it!
By the way – I consider you a ‘connector’ of the community but I guess we all see things through different lenses! 🙂
Nice post. I definitely agree with you, there is something very satisfying about food blogging. It quantifies the cooking we do in an awesome catalog. Also I love tracking my stats!!
That’s a great point – we are creating a digital archive of our work. Love it!
I love this. I’ve asked myself this question a million times. I don’t have a ton of readers, I don’t get paid, so what justifies all this time and energy (and yes, bizarro behavior like waking up crazy early to cook and shoot before heading off to office job!)? But I’ve found that I’m happier when I do it, and good things (hello Mehregan cyber-party) come of it. I love writing, and feel like food stories are so, so important to share. And for me, that’s enough to keep me going.
🙂 We do have some funny habits! you are so right – I feel the same way. It’s fulfilling in a way, and the angle of documenting and carrying on our traditions and culture is huge as well! merci Tannaz joon ! xoxo
Great insight to your creative world!
Merci!
Ahu, congrats on your 100th blog! I certainly look forward to the next 100! Ahu Eats is one of my most frequently used bookmarks. Always look forward to seeing what you’ve been up to in the kitchen.
Thank you dear friend!
Ahu joon: Congratulations on your 100th post! That’s in someways a more meaningful landmark than an anniversary blog. I love this thoughtful and inquisitive post of yours. I agree with all that you articulately analyze and point out (including the tangible need for the pleasure and satisfaction of craft) although I think you politely did not mention that some bloggers, including food bloggers, are motivated by “game theory” and $$. I know what keeps me toiling away at my blog is that aside from being passionate about food, I’m passionate about presenting a different side of Iran and Iranians in a world that’s only subject to a very myopic and frankly prejudiced view of us Iranians, and the Internet and social media and blogging have finally offered a platform for voicing and presenting this other side and that fire keeps me going even when I want to bang my head because I’m so stressed or behind, or etc. That, and because Persian food is delicious and it rocks!
And: because it’s through food blogging that I’ve met people like you and we’ve sprung up what is promising to shape up as a wonderful community. It all adds up to making the tremendous amount of work quite worthwhile.
Thank you for this thoughtful and very interesting post!
Azita joon, thank you for your thoughtful response! You are right on – I left out two major things – the potential money but more importantly the latter – the one that all of us Persian bloggers have in common which is to preserve, educate and promote our culture. I’m so glad we live in an era that has the technology for us to so easily document and bring a voice to it!
Ahu – I never wanted to write a blog. It was all Doreen’s idea, and I reluctantly agreed to go along for the ride. What a surprise it was to me that I had found a real outlet for my food passion… and I had no idea that I would enjoy – and become so passionate – about the food photography and writing. Like Greg, those are three very important parts. Unlike him, I absolutely love the community aspect. The connections – real connections – made with bloggers (my friends) has made a difference in my life. This goes way beyond sharing a recipe. It is sharing meals and life. Deaths. Births. Illness. Joy. Heartache. We share as if we were at the table together. I believe that sharing a meal is the highest form of giving, sharing and communicating. And I get to do that every week. That is why I blog.
David – I’ve heard your story many times, and I’m always surprised when I remember you were pushed into it. I (and I’m sure so many others) are darn glad you were! And I totally agree about the community and I love the way you wrote it – our connections our beautiful because they start with food but they blossom into the rest of our lives.
I ask myself this all the time. So glad you shared your thoughts 🙂
Dear Ahu, what a wonderful and inspiring post – congratulations also on your 100thpost! I looked up the David Chang article as well, as I have one of his cookbooks I was curious. The reasons for blogging escape me sometimes, especially since it takes up so much of our family time but also my personal time but, in the end, I believe I am in this because I enjoy getting better at cooking and baking and learning many new things. And because of all the wonderful virtual friendships – all the very best and thank you for a great post!
Andrea
I neer stick at anything. So I find it amazing that I am still blogging after all these years. Why, it can only come down to the fact I really enjoy it in general. Congratulations on the 100th post!
Congratulations on your 100th post! I love this post, Ahu – it’s so relatable. Food is definitely a calling, and if you can’t answer the calling at work (I work at a desk all day), having a food blog is a natural outlet.
Ahu-jan, First, congratulations for the 100th post. Now you look back and say, wow I produced 100 and shared them with the world. There are going to be many more of these blogging milestones in your path, one greater than other.
I had read this post shortly after you published it, and wanted to leave a comment with some thoughts put into it (didn’t mean to take this long).
Why we blog evolves. We start with one reason and then move on to a new inspired one. We discover more of our capabilities and reinvent ourselves. I started with the thought to document my Mother’s recipes (because she didn’t) and along the way, I evolved with the potentials available for me to explore.
Artist create with passion no less, even when they market their creation.
You have started a good thing here and please continue to amuse us.
🙂 Fae.