Death by Blogging

Luckily for me, blogging is just my pastime, in between my full time stressful job of lawyering.

Not sure which is worse, since the New York Times reports, In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Till They Drop:

They work long hours, often to exhaustion. Many are paid by the piece — not garments, but blog posts. This is the digital-era sweatshop. You may know it by a different name: home.

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Of course, the bloggers can work elsewhere, and they profess a love of the nonstop action and perhaps the chance to create a global media outlet without a major up-front investment. At the same time, some are starting to wonder if something has gone very wrong. In the last few months, two among their ranks have died suddenly.

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Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.

To be sure, there is no official diagnosis of death by blogging, and the premature demise of two people obviously does not qualify as an epidemic. There is also no certainty that the stress of the work contributed to their deaths. But friends and family of the deceased, and fellow information workers, say those deaths have them thinking about the dangers of their work style.

Sweatshop. Long hours. Lotta stress. Paid by the piece (sorta like the billable hour). Sure sounds a lot like the legal profession. One big difference is that bloggers love their job, despite the stress, while most lawyers don't. See, e.g., Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief.

Luckily for me, blogging is one of my hobbies, so I enjoy it & avoid the stress. As for my legal job, while it's not a hobby, and it definitely does have its stress, I can say that I mostly like it. And then there's the love of my life (besides my family, of course) -- my antique jewelry collection. Collecting it. Wearing it. Hell, I even love just perusing through my collection of gems on occasion.

Blogging. Law. Jewelry. Quite a combination, if I do say so myself.