Beginning Blogging Class at Clockworks
I strong-armed my hubby so I could attend the Beginning Blogging class taught by the incredibly cool Emily Grosvenor of Desperately Seeking Salem . I’ve been following her blog and witty commentary for awhile now and she’s up there pretty high on my women of high regard list (note to self, post this list soon). Finally, I was able to meet her and gain some pearls of wisdom.
One of the questions she posed was why do we want to blog? Sitting back in my chair at class, I thought this question was very similar to the questions you ask yourself when making a business plan. But I’ve never thought of a blog like a business. I’ve been posed the question before by friends who are leery of the public format, but I haven’t really thought about it much.
I started my journey blogging in February of 2008. Then (as well as now) I wanted to share some projects that I had with friends and family. I was mommy to a 5 and 2 year old and feeling a bit taken over by kids and the life of a mom. I had just started painting again and wanted a place to share my art with others. This was a big deal to me since typically I hid my creative projects in closets and was just getting comfortable hanging my paintings up on the walls of my home.
Tired of meeting people at parties or reconnecting with people only to see their wincing expression when I told them what I did…”I’m a stay-at-home mom”, I wanted to show the world who I was. I was determined I wouldn’t become the mommy who spent years raising her children and investing in her child’s development while slowing losing her sense of self. With those reasons in my mind, I started blogging.
I continue to blog for those same reasons and a few more. I didn’t realize how giddy I would feel when connecting to strangers who liked what I created. Sure people haven’t flocked to my blog and I don’t have a huge following, but I cherish each comment that is posted by readers like you. I feel blessed to have the time to document my little life. It’s a journey I’m glad I’ve taken and I’m so thankful you’ve come along with me!
For those of you who missed Emily’s class, head on over to Clockworks July 12th for another Beginning Blogging class. This time I’ll let my husband join the fun.
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Thanks for the kind words, Jessica! I was thrilled to see your lovely face there after all these interactions on blogs. Remember how I said you have to put your picture out there to have a successful blog? I’ve noticed on Twitter that I’ve started rolling past the tweets without face pics… even the New York Times! Hard to feel connected to a logo, easy to feel connected to people.
I’m just at the beginning of my motherhood adventure and am of course grappling with all of the same issues all moms that, yes, stay at home, deal with. I’ve been working towards this moment for a few years now — working from home during naps and at night and mornings before the wee one wakes up — and I’ve noticed a couple of things. First, most moms would kill to be in our position! They really know where it’s at, to be there for your kids and still have a connection to the world of ideas. Second, having kids and working from home isn’t about multi-tasking. Multi-tasking is bad! It’s about working faster, smarter, harder in the short time that we have to ourselves. Remember that book the Four Hour Work Week? That’s my life! I’m a writer, and it is oh-so-annoying to be in the flow and have baby Dash wake up, but my start-up energy has gone down. I’m at the keyboard and I’m off! All companies should hire moms.
Someday, perhaps I’ll be in a position to work outside the house on a regular basis, and I’m scared of going in there and competing with young sassy shiny girls with more office experience. But I am making my list of what this does to your mind and your abilities. It can be a frustrating existence, but I don’t feel like I’ve given up that much to know exactly who these little beings I’ve created are.
That has nothing to do with blogging of course…