Positive feedback

Sigh... working on the website.

There are times when, walking back to the office after my post-work cappuccino, that I silently say to myself: "what the hell are you doing?" And then, noticing the odd looks on the faces of the people passing by, I come to realize that I've actually said it out loud.

But what the hell am I doing?

Who in their right mind returns to their office, having already escaped its nine-to-five confines? Ah, but there's the detail: who in their right mind, indeed?

As I watch my evenings, my weekends, and sometimes even my vacations sacrificed on the altar of the almighty Homepage, I begin to question my own sanity. (Yes, as many of you have been doing all along.)

But then something extraordinary happens. Something that makes it all suddenly seem worthwhile: I remember that I didn't have much of a social life anyway, so what the heck, no big loss!

No, no, that's not it. What happens is that I receive a compliment from out of the blue (or whatever color the internet might be):

Kind emails from visitors as far away as Greece and Israel!

An extremely flattering site recommendation from Rudy Girón, a fellow blogger in Guatemala, who I hope to meet someday!

A request from LeftTurn, a progressive online magazine to use one of my photographs on their website.

A letter from a renowned professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, asking to use three of my photos as illustrations for an article that she is writing for the Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies journal.

And an email from a talented graphic designer who wants to use one of my photographs for the cover of a British journal, Historical Materialism.

Now, I'm not bragging here. Well, ok, maybe a little. But what I'm really trying to say is how much I truly appreciate these letters and requests.

It makes me feel --even while sitting here in an empty office at eight o'clock in the evening-- that it just might be worth all the effort!

Posted by elcanche at May 4, 2005 08:05 PM