It seems that WordPress has succumbed to the new and different so constant in today’s world. Especially the world that relies on images rather than words. I don’t particularly want new and different, I simply want to write. But sometimes, new and different can challenge my thinking – and my mind – and sets me off to wandering somewhere until I’m lost. Ergo, an image of the Peter Principle.
I’d rather like to think I’m somewhere between the second and third level, but more likely between the third and fourth. However, I am doing my best to avoid the fourth.
And therein lies the Peter Principle. I am rising to my level of incompetence. But not, hopefully, today; however, unfortunately very close
You see, after all the research and trying out new buttons (including the one which is supposed to return me to the “classic” WordPress which I can’t tell if it has) I have completely forgotten why I wanted to write a post in the first place or what the content is supposed to be.
Ergo, reaching perilously close to my particular Peter Principle. But then, I don’t know if any of us who are older than say 40 understand how to navigate this expanded world of technology. By relying on images and blocks of images, I’m wondering if we’re forgetting how to think or reason. “An image is worth a thousand words.” That saying has been around a long time. But I’m wondering if an image can make me think in a new way or just give me more words to wonder with.
As in, “Why in the world did …… take that photo?”
Really. That’s a valuable question, given the image.
Image vs Words: They say “an image is worth 1,000 words.” Especially in sales. I can understand that, but other than Goethe, who drew images in his wonderful book, Botanical Writings, most thinkers used words. I can’t think in pictures. I can dream in images, and I can even think in images, particularly when I’m looking for my glasses which have somehow eluded my understanding of where they are if they aren’t around my neck (which they usually are on a long strand of black cord, thankfully), but the only images I use when writing are the ones I describe. I guess what I do is trust my readers to see the image themselves.
So, here’s an image that pretty much contains my mind at the moment. And, quite frankly, even though I’m not trying to sell anything, it pretty well captures where my head is.
janetsunderland.com 
You are quite right. My posts have become more picture-structured… Haven’t written a full text in a while. Maybe I’m exploring image narratives? 🙂
Hope all is well with you.
Here’s the URL but I can’t tell if it’s on the blog or another place: https://janetsunderland.com/?p=5562
I’ll call WordPress eventually and see if I can sort all this out. J.
Ho, ho, couldn’t find it… (Hope you had a wonderful Xmas…) 🙂
I adore the picture – it expresses exactly how I felt this morning when I discovered my Microsoft quitted working.
Laureen, how nice to hear from you. Thank you so much. As a side note, astrology wise, Mercury is kicking up a lot of dust, preparing to go direct after three weeks retrograde. If anything technology wise is working at all, it’s a minor miracle! Lol.
Madam Janet … As usual my first stop on return to WP is the JS Station …and this time you make me want to turn back… 🙃 ..or to join hands with you and keep on keeping on despite the technical changes. I have not tried to post but from yours and readers comments looks like tech changes are challenging us. Well .. we will survive !! … we have to … and meet technology head on.
I like your moving image … clever (applause) and also note that though sand is swirling all around … there is a whole lot still held in the grip of those hands. So lets grip on tight, grab what technology we can and let the others swirl around us. Cheers my friend.
I turned on the classic editor, to avoid the WordPress change. I should update at some point, but I’ve had enough other changes in my life recently. Someday…
You have certainly had your hands full! Thanks for the input. I’m not sure what I’m going to do right now. One day when my head is clearer, I’ll go in and struggle again.
I’m witcha, Janet, I like the older WP editor. Al’z Tip O’ the Day: Write your post in your favorite word-processing program and copy/paste it into the WP editor. Tweak formatting to taste.
Newer is not always better, but upgrades happen and generally-acceptable norms change. There may well be a good reason not to continue with our old familiar habits.
Ω
Well, that’s a good idea! Copy/paste. Who’dof thought! Thank you.
It seems this has been the summer of upgrades – from online backup program to house repairs. The world seems to be getting younger, except for, alas, me.
Make that, alas, “Us”. The good news is that the ‘youngins seem to be ok with the changes.
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Thanks, Allan! I’ll give that a shot.
Hi Janet, long time no see!
I had to get used to the new WP editor and hated it at first. But now I do like it better. What I do first is go ahead and put down the bones of my article (those are the headings), then write the paragraph under each heading. After that I just edit for clarity and reduce my wordiness where needed (especially the headings), and add images to fit the text. At least one is good, but if you don’t want images, you don’t have to add them.
Once I got used to it, I found it is a lot better than the old one, even if I did admit that grudgingly. One of the features I like a lot is the reusable blocks. I can put my bio at the end of every post by simply adding a block now, and if I want to edit it, that’s easy too. But again, there’s the learning curve before you reach the relative point of ‘easy’. Can’t seem to escape that part of it 😉
Thanks, Madison. Those are good ideas. I think my problem is in the way I write – on the blog at least – it’s pretty intuitive, and I give myself freedom to just write without worrying about publication. And therein, as the old adage goes, lies the problem. 🙂
Thanks for your words. Janet. I belong to the ones who say if it’s not broke don’t fix it. I never left the basic WP because it works for me. I use only word images because I my mind thrives on stories. I don’t know how to put pictures on my blog mainly because I have never been a picture taker. Lately I have nothing to write about that I think would connect with the readers in the particular small corner of WordPress I ended up in. I’ve noticed a couple of posts this week that express being in the doldrums about writing. I think the changes the world had undergone the past decade have thrown a pall over me. And yet I still notice interesting changes and am glad to be alive. Seeing the world through my twenty year old grandson, my oldest, helps. ❤
Now that, my dear Viv (seeing the world through your grandson’s eyes) would make a fine post! I’m actually preferring to see the world through the eyes of my great-grandson, aged 2, right now. He simply laughs and hollers – the last video we received was him yelling at himself in a mirrored wall. So now that I’m done with the hollering part, I simply need to go in and figure out the details of what’s behind the hollering. i.e. learn how to move from new/improved WordPress back to Classic – Classic. I like that word. Sort of like us.
Hi Janet,
It’s such a pleasure to read one of your posts again.
Words are more valuable than images. If it weren’t for our messages, designers wouldn’t have the direction they need or us to create cool images.
Nicely said, Robyn. And as my mother used to say, “it’s nice to be seen.” especially by some of my favorite travelers. Hope things are relatively sane in your world now.
It sounds like you’re dealing with that new block editor, and want out. If that is the case, here you go — Type this with the appropriate symbols in your address bar, and it should get you back to the classic editor, and the classic admin bar on the left.
https with the colon and two slashes, then your domain name with one slash after it, then wp – admin / edit . php with no spaces.
I think the new editor is awful. Once I figured out how to get back to the various pages — old editor, old stats, etc., I bookmarked them so I could just click the link and get back to them if something messed up, but I keep them open in browser tabs — convenient.
Well done, Lady! Thank you. The new editor is good for those who use a lot of photography, I guess, or short writings, neither of which I use a lot of, so I’m going to take your directions and bookmark. Good on ‘ya for figuring it out!
Hi Janet. Even though you forgot what the content of this essay is supposed to be, I like it anyway! See you —
Neil
Hahahahahahah…thanks, Neil. I still don’t remember what I set out to write, but there it is, and there it will likely remain– in my less that focused memory these days.