Diva Marketing Blog liked my session at Blog World Expo and the idea of blogs being springs and not wells. Cool – I am honored! I was talking about the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. We, and our blogs as extensions of ourselves, should be dynamic springs and not stagnant wells.
“My big take away from Andrew’s talk (slides) was ~ A blog should not be a well. It should be a spring. ~ Although Andrew put it into a religious context, his concept makes perfect sense to me not only for blogs but for social media in general. Think about it .. a well contains stagnant waters. Stagnation occurs when there is no new flow of water. Blogs, social networks, wikis and all the other tools/tactics allow for and encourage fresh water or new ideas to flow.” Diva Marketing Blog
Another thought:
Sometimes wells are used to just store things. In Genesis, Joseph was hidden in a cistern by his brothers because they didnt know what to do with him. Eventually some merchants came buy, purchased him as a slave, and hauled him off to Egypt. Some blogs are like that – old articles awaiting a publisher, old thoughts awaiting an entrepreneur, old memories awaiting someone to hear them. Better to be a spring – a reticulating dynamic source of life that comes from God and constantly streams out to whoever needs it. A spring that never runs out. Oh . . what streams may come?
Andrew; as I mentioned to you at GodBlogCon, I liked this analogy as well. Static vs. Dynamic. Although, we probably do not want to make a huge contrast here.
Hopefully, a quality blog also has historic content depth (in other words it is a well). A person should be able to go to a blog and not simply get wet in the contemporary moment, but also dig deep into the historical well of its archive.
Great to hang out with you Andrew, please stay in touch.
Andrew; as I mentioned to you at GodBlogCon, I liked this analogy as well. Static vs. Dynamic. Although, we probably do not want to make a huge contrast here.
Hopefully, a quality blog also has historic content depth (in other words it is a well). A person should be able to go to a blog and not simply get wet in the contemporary moment, but also dig deep into the historical well of its archive.
Great to hang out with you Andrew, please stay in touch.
Andrew – Now it is my turn to be ‘honored’ and thank you for the generous shout out. As I mentioned in my post, sometimes going outside of your comfort zone and journeying into new lands one can learn much. Needless to say I enjoyed your session.
I don’t think the analogue works – where did you get the idea that wells contain stagnant water? This is rubbish, a large proportion of the world get their clean water from wells (although of course they may also be disease ridden due to pollution from sewage).
One might more accurately say that wells represent deep work, digging into the ground in search of fresh water when it is not available on the surface. Springs are fickle, fairly unpredictable and dependent on the water table. I have to say that I’m more inclined to want to read a blog which is a well than a spring according to this definition.
What’s wrong with an empty well and being stuck there for a season? Joseph needed that ordeal/test before he could ’emerge’ to authority. Many emerging bloggers go through a dry time like that, their blogs express a struggle rather than a spring or fountain.
Isn’t ‘stagnant well’ a bit of an oxymoron? Seems to me both springs and wells depend on groundwater and both also produce life. It’s as if they just have different personalities. One bubbles and gushes, the other patiently waits for someone to choose to draw from it. Almost a picture of introvert/extrovert. Would be interesting to do a word study on wells in the Bible and see if there are more positive references or negative ones.
I see my blog as both spring and well. I use it as a journal, a map, a path of thought for my growing kids especially. I would have loved to been able to read the thoughts and journeys of my grandfather or dad and got a glimpse of the issues, passions and struggles they wrestled with.
I find my blog or well, to also be a point of meeting needs as Jacob’s Well was for the woman and for Jesus…we all have thirsts that can be met by engaging each other. It’s also a gathering place of conversation, ideas, even conflicting ones; and a place where life change, sin exposure and wisdom unfold.
I think of the old stuff on my blog more like wine…some ages well, some upon returning and uncorking…is good only to throw out.
what’s the credit on the picture?
not sure but you can buy it here.
http://www.heqiarts.com/shop/Gallery_3.html
This is a great word and an excellent image to keep in mind.
Do you know this poem by George MacDonald? May be a bit treacly but fits in well with your analogy. It’s from “Phantastes.”
Better to sit at the waters’ birth,
Than a sea of waves to win;
To live in the love that floweth forth,
Than the love that cometh in.
Be thy heart a well of love, my child,
Flowing, and free, and sure;
For a cistern of love, though undefiled,
Keeps not the spirit pure.
I think the analogy works best when you compare a spring to a well in this sense, as a “cistern.”
I enjoy your blog –
. . . what a great picture – U also could use the river and the lake analogy! The one (blog, church or what ever . . .) sits there and waits. Just a small portion/part is moving. In a river every bit of it is in a flow. And yes, the river might come out or go into a lake, but the question is: “In which part are you – flowing ore – sitting, waiting, wishing . . . ?” – and also yes, a analogy taken to serious could be just killing the idea behind it. So guys, please listen to the heart behind it and not looking at the frame in what – or how its brought to you! thx Andrew – great thought!