Screaming Into The Abyss

Posted byFractured Faith BlogPosted inA Fractured FaithTags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Interaction is so important to me as a writer. Whenever I post a blog, it’s great to see multiple views and likes pop up on my notifications, but it’s the comments that really matter to me. To know that a person has taken the time to read a post, truly thought about it and then responded. Some of the replies can be a few words, others a blog post in themselves, but they are all equally valued and cherished.

There are bloggers I talk to every day, there are less regular visitors and then there are those who I hear from once, then never see again. Often a single line I’ve written has resonated enough to encourage them to respond. I value them all equally. Feedback and engagement is akin to oxygen for writers. Without it, our creative lights flicker, falter, then fade away to nothing. We are left screaming into the abyss.

So I encourage you today to participate, to engage, to become involved in the most supportive online community I’ve ever encountered. While I do dip my toe into other platforms as a necessity, WordPress is where I truly belong. This is my base, my HQ. You don’t have to respond to this post but make a point today of reaching out to a fellow blogger. For all you know, they may be on the verge of giving up, of deleting their accounts.

Don’t give up. We need your voice. We want to learn from your experiences, to grow together and take steps towards a better future. Take risks, write more, open up and expose yourself to new people and experiences. Writing leads to freedom and without the latter, are we truly even alive? So write, talk, be the you that rarely sees the light in the ‘real world.’ You need the light, it is everything. Without the light, there is nothing.

Published by Fractured Faith Blog

We are Stephen and Fionnuala and this is our story. We live in Northern Ireland, have been married for 17 years and have three kids - Adam, Hannah and Rebecca. We hope that our story will inspire and encourage others. We have walked a rocky road yet here we are today, together and stronger than ever. We are far from perfect and our faith has been battered and bruised. But an untested faith is a pointless faith. Just as a fractured faith is better than none at all. We hope you enjoy the blog.

113 thoughts on “Screaming Into The Abyss”

  1. Before I could read a proper book all the way through (believe it or not in my mid twenties) I was totally in the real world. A world full of looking after kids, baking bread, washing clothes by hand, picking mushrooms in the field for breakfast, working out the budget for shopping… I feel a bit of bohemian rhapsody coming on “Is this the real world, is this just fantasy…” Right, best foot forward the hens need me to sort out their run. Blessings

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  2. Easier said than done sometimes… Case and point; a post against gender neutrality in my blog yesterday. I get a reply arguing with me against it also, as if I’d been for it. It was a short post… no words over two syllables IIRC, but what I say gets completely turned around.

    How do you deal with things like that? They’re hardly rare either. God help you if you get into real political issues too. There it’s just skim a few words looking for something to attack almost every time.

    If humanity survives this insanity, future generations are going to look back and go what the hell was wrong with those people?

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    1. I don’t write about politics so that’s not an issue for me. I’m all for constructive debate but on the few occasions I’ve received offensive or inappropriate comments I’ve deleted the post from my timeline without response. Sorry to hear of your negative experiences.

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      1. I almost forgot because I write so early, but yesterday I wrote a post that offended somebody because they took it to somehow mean that I support fascism, of all things. You aren’t responsible for how other people react to what you say, as long as you’ve done your best to make it clear. I am grateful for the negative reaction (my post was cross-posted to Facebook and that’s naturally where the argument began) because it showed me that I didn’t do a very good job of stating that these were the opinions of the author I was reviewing, not my own.

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        2. Absolutely true. All of us here are a family and by commenting we reach out to each other. I am sure we will be there for each other lending a listening ear when someone needs it it…Good post.Thanks for sharing

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    2. I think that can be a good thing sometimes, for example if got you to ask how you can deal with that. I think part of it is just getting better at rhetoric so people understand your point better. Someone will always misunderstand us, though.

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      1. Three years of public speaking in High School, a few competition awards there and undefeated in debate during that time. I started down a similar path during college as well. I’ve read enough communication and NLP books to probably have a masters degree in the theory at least.

        I admit I’m human, not perfect. Doubly so when I’m stressed out. Still, there are too many people out there in the modern world who can’t read more than a tweet without losing patience, focus or both.

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        1. “there are too many people out there in the modern world who can’t read more than a tweet without losing patience, focus or both.”

          Lol couldn’t have said it better myself.

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    3. These are the people who seem to be addicted to outrage. They will look for something to be offended about, and in the absence of anything, will manufacture an offense. How do you deal with things like that? – Be a voice for sanity that future generations will bless you for.
      (“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21)

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  3. I try to comment on the posts of every blog I follow, even if it’s just “I hear you” otherwise why would I follow them? While we may not be here specifically to become famous bloggers, if we weren’t interested in feedback and connection with others, we would just write in a diary, right?! I don’t get a lot of engagement on my posts, which is okay, but when I do it feels like my writing has at least touched someone’s life.

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  4. What a unique post!!!
    At first, when see this post I thought that it were a poem and opened it to read by setting up my mind to read a poem. But this ….this is superb inspirational motivational etc etc…….
    Liked this title
    Liked this article
    Morever, liked these “Feedback and engagement is akin to oxygen for writers. Without it, our creative lights flicker, falter, then fade away to nothing. We are left screaming into the abyss.”👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

    As you said, Take risks, write more, open up and expose yourself to new people and experiences.

    Happy Blogging
    Keep blooming

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  7. Great post and thank you for the reminder! We all want to be validated in anything we do, but as bloggers and writers, yes, it becomes our lifeline. When I first started blogging, I had a lot of encouragement from a few bloggers in the WP community, and as I grew, I would reach out to new bloggers on the scene by commenting on their blog posts. I need to get back to more interacting.

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  8. I agree with you Stephen! The feedback and interaction on WordPress is what inspires me most times to keep going (although on a much, much smaller scale than your wonderful blog!) I am most grateful for the folks who take the time to read and then share thoughts/concerns/questions.
    I am looking forward to this coming Friday as it is the last day of my summer employment after which I can happily spend hours staring at the computer screen again, hoping to come up with something interesting to blog about!
    Blessings,
    Chuck

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  9. “[M]ake a point today of reaching out to a fellow blogger. For all you know, they may be on the verge of giving up, of deleting their accounts.”
    This is exactly what happened to me. With a whopping 20 followers I was asking myself why I was spending so many hours blogging when I needed to finish writing my latest book. On what was going to be my last post I got a “like” from someone whose name I didn’t recognize. When I checked out the blogger, it was someone with a great blog and over 7000 followers. I saw that as a sign that I should keep going. Now I have followers all over the world – not many by some standards, but a real variety of people and perspectives. Every time I read “I needed to see this today!” I am encouraged that this is something I am meant to do.
    I enjoy your blog. I hope one of these days you’ll stop by mine again. 😉

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  11. Yes, screaming into the abyss, being on the edge of the abyss, a place I feel I know all too well. I know you’re right. I need to talk more with others, write more. But where I feel the greatest need to be heard is via the audio blog post option here. I truly do not enjoy writing. I feel as if I’m merely writing scripts for my spoken word. But writing can lead me to deeper understanding, so I do return to it, but only when it’s at the point of bursting out of me. Then it an flow, quickly, but my eye is always on speaking what I’ve written out loud. I’m struggling to find ways to get my voice out there, to be heard, and more importantly, to have my spoken words, my voice tone and quality, touch people individually. But for now mostly I talk to myself.
    Thanks for a wonderful post. You always feel like such a caring, giving person. And that truly is appreciated always.

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  12. Feedback is a good thing, especially when it’s more than just a like. Comments that hit to the heart of what you were trying to communicate warm the soul. Someone is listening, and that’s a gift.

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  13. What I love best about being able to reply, or post, is it’s like having a conversation, without all the awkwardness of personal face to face interaction. Most of the people I talk to here are thoughtful and well spoken. It is a good place to call “home”.

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  15. Thank you for that post. It took a lot to post my first post, it will improve but at least I started.
    You were the first one to like it, and my heart did a little skip to think even one person bothered to read it.
    So thank you again.

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  16. I appreciate the WordPress community as well Stephen. I don’t always have time to comment on all the blogs I follow. This is our busiest time of year at the farm. I relish each time I’m able to sit and catch up on reading. If I don’t comment I always try to hit “like” to show that one more time a fellow blogger has done a great job.

    I do enjoy having time to comment because each of you out there has given me great ideas, thoughts, and inspirations. I love following your blog Stephen, and keeping up with life across the pond. Keep up the great work. Come Fall and Winter I’ll take more time to converse with our great community.

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  17. You have such a knack for all this. I always feel like butter scraped over too much bread. (As Bilbo would say) but I agree. Writers need to connect with readers. “Stop yelling at me Stephen. 😂” I holler from deep inside the abyss.

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  18. You are so right ~ even though writing is largely a solitary activity, writers need feedback and the sense of community that comes from sharing with others. Thank you for the reminder that we all need that interaction. 🙂

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  19. I feel encouraged by this post. I’ve thought about giving up lots of times. Mostly I blog because I find it therapeutic but it always feels good when someone comments and you feel heard and understood by them. Thanks for writing this.

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  20. From one blogger/writer to another, my sentiments exactly! Sometimes, I’d just like to know that I’m not in my struggle alone, so it’s wonderful to get a thumbs up, like and a “me too”, every once in awhile. I love this post and I appreciate your transparency!

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  22. Yes! I’m pretty new to blogging, so even a single like is exciting to me right now, but the one or two comments I’ve gotten make me even happier! I try to comment on at least one or two posts a day, and will try to do more as I end up following more people. Reading and thoughtfully responding to every post by every person isn’t sustainable, but a little acknowledgement goes a long way.

    Same for on Goodreads, where I also post reviews, and have been doing so for a while before getting into this blog. I tend to get more comments there, and I comment more on others’ reviews and updates as well 😊

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  24. My blogging community has helped through the heavy grief of losing my brother, killed my a drunk driver; held my hand through the extreme worries about my husband’s health; encouraged and supported, extended a hand in friendship again and again. and although these are people I may never meet face to face, they have become like family. I love what you wrote here and to it all I say Amen!

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  26. I have to say, that today, THIS post resonated with me. I am still in the early days of getting my freelance editing and proofreading business off the gound, I am a homeschooling parent of 2 wonderful children, and I am just finishing a creative writing course that I hoped would benefit myself and my clients. I tell you this to explain why I don’t comment very often, I don’t have a lot of time at the moment. BUT I do read your posts.
    I am relatively new to blogging, having my own website and a business Facebook page, and although I have had a few likes and have a few followers, no one has commented yet. I’m hopeful this will change soon when I get the courage to write my own blog posts, instead of just sharing the great ones I have found. (I always give credit!!) And I sometimes wonder if I’m ‘screaming into the abyss’. So far though, I am still hopeful. Fingers crossed!

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  28. This is such an amazing post…it really sums up what the writing experience has become for me. It took a while to muster up the courage to post my work online and now that I do, I keep hoping for someone to interact with it. Stories can only come alive when they are read…it’s kind of like being Doctor Frankenstein, having your creature sewed up and ready for life on the operating table and waiting for a stray lighting bolt.
    Thank you for writing this!

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  29. I have benefited from interacting with fellow bloggers with chronic health issues like I have.

    I always enjoy your posts especially the ones that your humor breaks through 🙂

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  31. I used to blog on LiveJournal. It was a consortium of aspiring writers, bloggers, and dreamers. Every day new people would come and comment and you could do the same on their blogs. I made some lifelong friends there and one day, it all turned to ash and blew away like a ghost town in the Old West. I miss those days, and doubt that social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter will ever allow something like that to flourish ever again.

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  32. Love this so much. I struggle sometimes because I like to believe that I write for those who might just need that single line, as you mentioned, and lie to myself that I don’t need any sort of affirmation. I think I’m afraid to believe that I write for the approval of others or attention, but I am learning that is ok (and actually unstoppable) for me to seek that kind of approval. It can’t all be for nothing. Thank you for sharing so openly.

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  35. I too feel invisible. I don’t share anything on other platforms as I would like to remain anonymous, but I don’t now how to reach more audience. It’s nice when I get 5 likes or even just one. But I hope maybe someone is reading and understanding, and maybe relating to me in some way! Thanks for the inspo

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  36. Pingback: The Order of the Screaming Monks: Part I – Pages from Another Place

  37. I have been searching non-stop for a type of blogging/writing collabrative style group and have come up empty handed. I just wanted you to know that this post has spurred something in me. I’ve just created a Facebook group and I am about to do a post inviting local writers of all kinds to join. Thank you, thank you, THANK you!

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  38. I’m still trying to figure this whole site out or I would be following everyone. As you know I was MIA for a year, so I want to make more connections and I will when I am more settled and moved into my new house. However, I do follow back everyone that has followed me, and while I have not been able to comment, I have read every blog, and catching up on first blogs so I can learn about everyone I do follow.

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  39. Thanks so much for writing that. It is sometimes difficult to keep moving forward with my blog. I am relatively new at it and yes, the likes and especially the comments are so important. I crave comments yet rarely receive any. I question why all the time.

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  40. let me start by saying “sorry”. I don’t often get in read on here as often as I should. I tend to save my reading, perusing the wordpress authors I’ve selected for a quiet subdue day. Hence today i am scrolling through and here you are. What a wonderful blog you and your family put up. I feel as if I would know you anywhere. Jogging, slogging, mucking about your life as a family. God’s blessings to you all and keep up the encouraging words, even if they “get real”.

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  42. I have maintained my own blog for quite a while now. I hardly ever get comments but I get likes and followers and that feeling that someone is listening is quite wonderful. I wish I had the time to do more with it than I do.

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  43. I really resonate with many of the things you say in your writing. Its people like you who are willing to share their story from right where they are, who add to my courage. I take courage from how much it helps me to read others journeys – that somehow mine can be equally inspiring to others. Genuine stories with personality quirks and imperfections included, silently give me permission to speak, and even scream. Keep writing.

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  44. Hi from steamy Tampa to you there on the Emerald Isle! I also love the responses to my blog posts. Just that little hit is nice; comments are icing. And a new follower or two makes my day!

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