Monday Mood

Monday Mood.

That was the name of a column I wrote on thelebanon.com in 2000 and kept writing for years every Monday when such a platform was still called e-zine.

I had “fans” almost everywhere. Nostalgic Lebanese expats who belonged to my age group. My ramblings and rants somehow hit home and they genuinely kept in touch. In 2006 I went to Chicago and met two girls who were big fans of Monday Mood (we’re still in touch and meet every now and then, btw).

And then I had my own eponymous blog. And for years I enjoyed blogging and spent time writing and posting and replying to comments just for the sake of loving it.

-Why don’t you monetize it?

-Monetize it. You need to make it appeal to the general public and monetize it.

-You need to monetize it.

Around that time, every Tom, Dick, and Harry became bloggers with monetized blogs. Some of these blogs died with time and their domain names are now up for sale. Others are in an induced coma and still have posts dating back to the pre-Covid era. Past the era of freebies and VIP tables, only a few have survived.

As a writer, I am prone to mood swings. I never let them have the upper hand when it comes to my professional commitments and deadlines. But as far as personal blogging is concerned, I wanted my writings to be a true revelation of my persona. And mood swings. So monetizing and becoming a slave to deadlines or to the taste of the masses never really appealed to me. I am already lucky enough to be able to merge my passion with my work, and make a living out of it. I wanted to keep blogging as a hobby. With the nonsense, the commitment-free vagabond spirit. Free of links and backlinks.

I mean honestly, aren’t we allowed to have hobbies anymore?