The Future Of CreditMattersBlog.com

Law school has ended. Graduation is over. And the bar exam is in the rear-view mirror. My legal direction is all figured out. But what about CreditMattersBlog.com? That's what today's blog entry is about.

Many people have asked this question during the past six months: what's going to happen to the blog after graduation? I've always maintained that I would like to keep the blog going -- even after I was a lawyer. But I've recently had second thoughts about that. It was one thing to blog while I was a full-time law student (no big deal). But it's another thing entirely to think that I can blog while I am a full-time lawyer.

I've been able to blog from class; I won't be able to blog from court. What's more, my blogging has always been on my time. Now, it will be on my employer's time. Even if I could get my employer's permission (and I am sure I could), I would still feel odd about not giving the firm 100% of my time. First and foremost, my top priority is to the firm and my clients. Anything that takes away from that is, quite frankly, unacceptable to me.

The decision -- to blog or not -- is a tough one for me. It's so tough, in fact, that I consulted some of my closest confidants earlier this week -- to see what they thought of the situation. Here are some of their thoughts (each quote comes from a different person):

"Announce you're taking a leave of absence, and that the blog will remain up for posterity's sake...."

"Why not announce you are taking two to three weeks off and then you will come back with an extremely reduced schedule?" This person, by the way, thinks that I am "addicted" to writing. This person doesn't think I can stop writing even if I tried. This person is probably right, but I will have plenty of legal writing to do. It shouldn't be difficult to get my writing "fix."

"Everyone understands that your career is a top priority and no one will blame you for this move (in fact most of us can't figure out how you have kept your busy schedule along with your day-to-day involvement with the blog!)." When I initially consulted these people, I said that I planned to end my blog. Hence, the comment about "this move."

"If the cost of maintaining CreditMattersBlog.com is not very high, I would definitely keep it open. Perhaps you can give bi-weekly, or monthly commentaries on the state of credit in the U.S." I value this person's advice tremendously, by the way.

And finally, there was this one: "Personally, I think you should announce the way you think you'll really be heading. I would urge you to eschew sugarcoating your announcement, as I think a good bulk of your readers have grown fond of your blog and have built up something of a trust with you."

That last comment is the one that resonated most with me. During the past week, I've given it considerable thought. Will my future legal career allow me to blog on a regular basis? What's more, what will the blog be like during the next 60 days, when I am preparing for the bar exam?

Let me answer both of those questions -- taking the last question first. During the next 60 days, I will be studying for the bar. I will be dedicating all of my time to that endeavor. Period. The blog, at best, would be an afterthought. My guess is that I would have gone on hiatus for the next two months. There would not have been any blog posts.

Now, the longer-term question: will my future legal career allow me to blog on a regular basis? No. The days of blogging every day are over. I'm not kidding myself on that score.

Meanwhile, I could blog once every other week or even once every month, but I don't think that's what this blog is all about. Indeed, I'm convinced that most of my readers visit CreditMattersBlog.com not because of the stuff I write but because of the comments that my readers leave. I have a vibrant community here. The blog has logged nearly 17,000 comments in less than a year. That's a huge contribution by my readers. If I'm correct about the lure of my blog, this blog loses a lot of its appeal if I decide to write once a month.

So, let's cut to the chase. This is my plan: I don't plan to post a single blog entry for the next two months or so. After the bar exam (at the end of July), I could see myself posting a blog entry here and there. However, my activity will be inconsistent at best. What does this mean? It simply means that my blog -- as you have known it -- is no more.

Still, I do reserve the right to make a cameo appearance every now and then. If there is some earth-shattering news that I think my readers would be interested in, I'll write. (If you're interested in receiving those rare dispatches, I would advise you to get on my mailing list. You can subscribe to my blog posts here.) Otherwise, I don't expect to contribute much new material to this blog. By the way, I will also leave the comments section open. But the same rules still apply: all spam will be deleted (my readers never see spam because I delete it as soon as it appears). Also, no personal attacks will be allowed. By and large, my readers have always attacked issues -- and not each other. I'll continue to monitor all comments, though, just to make sure that doesn't change. I'll also be responding to comments as time permits. Ditto email.

Finally, it's been my great pleasure to serve everyone during the past ten months and change. Additionally, your daily participation has been appreciated. Tremendously appreciated. I could not have maintained this blog without your help.

That's about it. This, sadly, is where we say goodbye and go our own way.

I leave you with a quote and a video (below): "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." ~ attributed to Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)



Smile. Ear to ear.

Take care.