This week has been emotionally hard. But, I’m determined to break into a new week tomorrow with vitality and excitement. It also helps that I will be rolling into the new age of 28.
We are starting a new exercise routine today. Yoga class has (sadly) ended and insanity is nearing completion. So we will be revisiting the first four weeks of insanity everyday monday-friday, saturdays will be off and sundays will be spent at the gym strength training. Yoga and running sessions will be divided up among extra energetic days.
Today I wanted to talk about blogging. I love talking about blogging, more so than my own blog. I get a lot of emails asking about how I started, how I got people to read (kind of), and who designed it. I also get real-life questions that involve the main question “why!?” and then I try to explain and it always comes back as “but why??”
At a distance blogging looks like a means to gain attention, to brag, an adult show-n-tell. But if you look a little deeper you will find that there are many colorful, creative, curious people who just want to share, inspire and learn. I hope I come off as the latter.
I think blogging is weird to most people. Me for example, you can find out my weight, what foods I eat, when I will be at the gym. You know I’m married, that I have two cats, and a rabbit. You know what my bedroom and kitchen look like…when they’re clean of course. You know that I struggle with overeating- which isn’t an easy secret to hide. You know (a little) of what I do to make a living. You know that I have a strong network of friends. You know that I travel. That I love to eat interesting foods, and that I cook.
But there are many many things that I don’t share. So why?
Back in the early 2000’s I was introduced to the blogging community Craftster (by ashley, thank you very much). And I was shocked. It was like discovering a little community of gnomes living in the base of my backyard tree. Here were hundreds, if not thousands of women who were a little off-beat. Who made something and felt so proud that they had to share. Because making something yourself is a big deal to a lot of us. I got that. I still get it.
That community morphed into a full-fledge obsession with the online creative community. I would skip classes to stay home and sew appliqués on t-shirts or skirts. Mostly stuff I would later sell on ebay for a little cash. I just couldn’t believe that such people existed, mostly because I had only met a couple of them in my real life. I felt understood and supported by people I never would have met otherwise.
And then I found their blogs. Alicia Paulson, whom I still read, was one of them. I was and am in awe of everything she creates, which somehow turns to magic. Her words are like a really delicious dessert that you never want to end. She is articulate. Her stories about childhood summers, or afternoons at grandparents houses take me back. I can almost smell the pool we frequented as a child.
But most of all Alicia inspired me. She didn’t show me her amazing studio to make me feel inferior about my little creative nook in my shared apartment. She doesn’t share the story about her recent bathroom remodel just to make me crave tile instead of linoleum in mine. She doesn’t show her dinners, or homemade birthday cakes for her husband because she believes she is more awesome than me. I don’t know why exaclty she shares, but if I’m anything like Alicia it’s because we have to. Because it’s inspiring to share. Because we’re a little proud of ourselves.
It’s nice to know that people are out there like us. Who drool over vintage fabrics, or scour the internet for the perfect recipes, or find pleasure in the same things women a hundred years ago did: sewing, baking, gardening, making a home. In real-life, these activities are often met with resistance. But why? Why not just go to McDonalds? Why not just close your eyes and pick a color for your bedroom (or let someone else do it)? Why not just open a package and eat? Why not just go about life not thinking about anything at all because dare I say it’s a little weird to want to can in 2011, or want to sew your own clothes when you can just go get something at Old Navy, or want to grow your own herbs and vegetables when there are a million super markets? Why do anything at all when you can just buy it? And that’s the point of blogging to me. It’s an army of interesting lives. People who dare to have a bigger life and go a step further to share the life they are creating.
Blogging is inspiring to me. I could only hope someone has found inspiration in my words and life. Inspiration to try a little harder at life, to consider things, to develop your personality to just do something other than watch TV. That would be the highest form of flattery to me.
I share my life because there are people that read what I have to say and get it. I find community and inspiration in that. Something I’ve rarely felt in real life. Because of Krissie, I started to run. Because of Miranda, I gave up TV. Because of Ree, I started taking photographs. Because of Alicia, I made homemade cakes (and dinner!). Because of Roni, I didn’t feel ashamed to share my weight loss journey. Because of Emily, I dreamed of working for myself. Because of NieNie, I don’t feel so scared to be a mother. Because of Heidi, I felt more creative.
And I’m sure all of these women and the countless other ones out there have met resistance for what they do and the lives they lead. But I’m grateful that they do share, because it’s not “over sharing” or “braggy”, it’s real and it let’s me know that I’m not alone.
And to answer the other questions…I create all of the headers and graphics for my blog. My husband does the other stuff, like SEO and wordpress manipulation. Stuff that I have little patience for. People come to my blog through comments I’ve left, twitter, or finding me on google search results. My only advice for blogging is to find your own voice and not to compare yourself to other bloggers. This is one I still struggle with.
I wanted to be as good as so and so. But, I am just one person. Blogging is not my business or main source of income. I make a little money selling ad space on my blog, but I’m very picky about the ads and know the people behind them. I also make a little money when I link to Amazon. About $50 a month- big bucks.
I’m very bad about returning emails and doing product reviews. This is a warning. Some top bloggers will say you should respond to every single email that comes through, even the bad ones. If I did this, I would never do anything else. I’m also bad about leaving comments or creating a community with my blog. I’m not a good blogger or a professional writer. I rarely edit my posts, and it’s obvious. I don’t lose sleep about grammar or spelling, I probably should. So pretty much…don’t do anything that I do! It’s just me and my thoughts around here.
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