What Would You Be Doing If You Weren't Blogging?

... or spending time reading blogs?

I started The Scratching Post in February of 2006 with the intent to make money with it. I had just gone through a prolonged family tragedy that wiped me out financially. I was struggling to the point that it took me a month to save up the $15 entrance fee to the landfill so I could dump some rubbish from my yard. I had time in odd increments and wondered what I could do with that time to make money. I figured blogging might work out. I'd read that you could make some money with advertising on your blog, so off I went, blogging away.

That turned out to be a waste of time. My hourly wage was practically zero and I found I couldn't force myself to do the one key thing you need to do to succeed - focus on one topic. I made $100 from AdSense and probably another $100 or so from Pay Per Post before I quit trying to make money with the blog, but I kept writing.

So what else could I have done? Up until a few days ago, I had figured the choice I made was about as good as any when a stray thought came into my head. What if I had decided to moonlight as a street performer instead? Way back when, I used to play the flute. With the dedication I gave this blog, I could have been skilled enough to come up with a good 45-minute set list and would have made a lot more playing with my flute case out at Balboa Park or somewhere like that. That effort would have led to opportunities to play elsewhere, just like the research and effort on this blog has led to career opportunities in the life I did choose.

I've always loved Debussy.
So how about you? What would you have done had you decided not to blog or spend time reading blogs?