The Zen of Squidoo and the Art of Google-Fu

It has been a really long time (literally years) since I last wrote in this blog.

Recently some things have been happening at a site called Squidoo.com where I have written some content at. Things are in upheaval at Squidoo, Google and elsewhere. People are upset, worried or angry about things that are happening or may happen.

I've found myself responding to some things others are saying about what is going on and I wanted to share those thoughts with others because they apply to so many things, while much of it applies to those writing online for income a lot of it applies to almost anything in life.


Here is some of what I wrote in reply to someone asking if it worth their energy to continue writing at Squidoo because there may be future upheavals.



Whether you have your own websites or write on websites you don't own, like Squidoo, you will face upheavals. Spammers and scammers make so search engines like Google have to constantly change their algorithms so that they can give their users the best results (or become obsolete). Technology improves, resulting in changing algorithms and more, so upheavals results from those as well.

No matter what you do to earn money, whether online or offline, whether you work for yourself or someone else...there is a good chance you will face upheavals. People get laid off as new technology or competitors come along, as the economy goes in a natural flow of up and down and sometimes goes through an unnatural flow of up and down. Hackers take down servers, a war happens in a country you never heard of...but it costs a supplier money, which costs your employer or you more money, and it effects your earnings. Some things are less likely to have upheavals that others, or the upheavals are minor by comparison. Those that have the most potential for upheavals probably have the most rewards as well as risks.

The more you see it as stressful the more energy it will take from you. The more you can see it as part of "what is" and be at peace with it, the more you can flow with it and channel your energy more constructively and positively into growth and have either equal energy or even more energy.

In another part of the discussion I added:
There are only a few things in life I have control of, and that largely consists of myself and my thoughts (which then control my feelings and actions). I am learning that accepting "what is" puts me in a place of power, instead of being thrown off balance.

Much of this sort of philosophy I have learned elsewhere, but it is being reinforced by my experiences at Squidoo and with what has been going on with Google over the past few years (with their Penguins and Pandas). It is something that applies to all of life, online and off. Change is constant, like water moving in the ocean, water flowing in the stream.

Bruce Lee is well known for reciting these lines he wrote for a role he played in a tv series called Longstreet. I hope they will serve you like they have served me. 

"Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."