Zen Habits is a Top 25 blog authored by Leo Babauta, a “simplicity blogger and author”. Originally from Guam, Babauta now lives in the San Francisco area with his wife and six children. As the title suggest, Zen Habits is a blog that focuses on how Babauta has implemented elements of Zen into his lifestyle, and what impact these habits have had on his life. However, instead of advocating full-fledged Zen Buddhism in his articles, Babauta skillfully extracts the essential practices of Zen—such as organization, decluttering, goal-setting, meditation, frugal living, happiness, healthy diet, and stress management—and makes them easy for his more than one million readers to implement into their Western lifestyles. Babauta never claims to be a Zen monk or even a Zen practitioner; rather, he simply uses the term to describe his personal lifestyle philosophy of simplicity and mindfulness. Leo Babauta's goal through Zen Habits is to improve other people's daily habits and lifestyle choices–a goal accomplished through the description how his lifestyle supports and validates his teaching, the use of a simple, basic website, and the access given to hundreds of concise, yet well-written posts. Foremost, Leo validates his work by practicing what he preaches. One of the most integral aspects of a blog is the ethos of the author, and it is clear that Leo is qualified to write on lifestyle improvement. Before he started his blog, Leo was in debt, overweight, unhealthy, and generally unsatisfied with his life. However, since he decided to make a lifestyle change towards simplicity and mindfulness, he would now say that his life is filled with meaning and purpose. He has gained financial independence, lost over 70 pounds, run an ultramarathon, and quit smoking. So not only does his life story provide validation to his work, but it also provides a pathetic appeal to his readers. His story is inspirational and motivating, which can conjure emotions of excitement and determination in his audience. He intends to write to anyone who is willing to change their daily habits and to those who hope to improve their lives by jettisoning the unnecessary and embracing a simple, meaningful life. Leo presents himself to his audience as a simple, successful man who lives a life of meaning and purpose. But more importantly, he admits that he is still a work-in-progress, and always will be. He is vulnerable with his readers, admitting to many failures along with his successes. He comes across as a mentor who is on a journey with his readers, rather than a condescending teacher with a “been there, done that” attitude.
After just a cursory glance at the home page of Zen Habits, the overarching theme of the blog is clear: simplicity. There is a home page, a bio page, an archive, a book list page, and a link to his other site. All of his articles are listed on one page, in a long list, only separated by date. There are no distractions, no advertisements, no unnecessary decorations, and no elaborate formatting. The site no longer has ads due to the financial support Babauta now receives through the books he has written and the courses he offers on another site, called Sea Change. His blogspace is a continually evolution that revolves around the changes in his own life. The easy navigation of his site along with categorizing his articles by date lends to the conclusion that Babauta has a large faithful following who continually check back in for new content.
Zen Habits appeals to an audience of self-improvers. Many of the articles are directed towards the betterment of one’s self, which will, in turn, be manifested to others through attitudes and behaviors. A prevalent feature of many blogs that is missing here is a comments section. The only voice heard within this blog is Babauta’s. The following statement is written under his contact section, “I’m not able to personally respond to emails, and I don’t take guest posts, advertising, or requests to promote anything.” With as transparent as Babauta is in regards to sharing his life with his readers, he is unavailable for any personal contact to them. This goes against the grain of many blogs these days which place their emphasis on getting to know their followers. Babauta lets his writing speak for itself. He so strongly believes in the sharing of his ideas, he has released all copyright to his blog material and to his ebook, Zen to None. He offers a relatively thorough analysis of the pros and cons to open source blogging via the following link: Open Source Blogging: Feel Free to Steal My Content.
Zen Habits holds a substantial amount of content. Babauta started the blog back in 2007 and has consistently posted content ever since then. When he writes, every keystroke is made with purpose. There is no fluff or filler. His writing style is straight forward, yet artistic and creative, producing an overall sense of confidence and clarity with undertones of subtle boldness throughout his articles. A recurring frame of thought veining many his articles is the need to pause before responding or reacting. This idea is something that our culture is moving farther and farther away from, instead embracing spontaneous decisions.
Zen Habits manages to come across as relevant and significant, even though its content often fights what today’s society broadcasts. To many, a slower-paced life equals an unsuccessful life. It is because of Babauta and many other writers like him that this perception is slowly being changed. Babauta has and is still making significant contributions to his domain. His writings are credible and original–two characteristics that are made more clear by the absence of any other voices on his blog and the use of his own life as a springboard for a majority of his content.
Nine years ago, Babauta branched out and created a blog space that is in complete agreement with the lifestyle he has chosen to live. Because of the success of this original space, Babauta developed the name recognition to be able to pen and publish books to support himself and his family, even without the personal interaction he has chosen to forgo with his blog readers. His model shows that it is possible to make a large impact solely through the content you write. Babauta’s purpose in life is to improve other people's’ lives by highlighting the power of daily habits, suggesting many intentional lifestyle choices, and stressing the importance of mindfulness and singleness of thought. Zen Habits accomplishes these goals by describing how Babauta’s lifestyle supports and validates his teaching, by creating a simple, basic website, and by offering hundreds of concise, yet well written posts.
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