Posts Tagged: blogging
I’ve Forgotten How to Blog
It’s been so long. So long. And, I think I may have even broken my blogging bone. I’ll give it a whirl, though….
Life. It’s been extremely busy. It’s also changed so much this past year. And, it’s changed for the better. No, dare I say, changed for the best.
My job is going super well. I love what I do and I’m pretty damn good at it. My co-workers are all astounding women, and I am proud to call them my friends.
The gym, even though it’s been hit or miss the past month with all the sickies floating around, has been an amazing influence in my life. I’ve not only improved my body, my strength, and my stamina, I’ve made more friends; it’s been a wonderful blessing.
My online, social media, life has shifted, too. These days I’m all over Instagram (@secretagentmama – find me!), and my true socmed love is Facebook. I love that there are so many different people from my life congregated in one place. My family (parents, kids, aunts, uncles, cousins), my childhood friends, people I’ve known all my life, old high school chums, social media friends, co-workers, and so many more are all there for me to interact with and share the stories of our lives. I also love the new time-line, but that’s just me, I’m a sucker for a nice cover photo!
The biggest thing that happened in the past month is we now have (not one, but) TWO teenagers in the house. Mikey turned 14 and Livey turned 13. Mikey had a buddy spend the weekend with us, and it culminated in a Minecraft cake extravaganza. Olivia had a special couple days out with me. She got a feather in her hair, we went out to lunch a couple times, and we went girl-time shopping. In a couple weeks she’ll be having all of her closest girlfriends over for a Just Dance Wii Party, complete with pizza and pop and chips and dips! Invitations are going out tomorrow.
There are a few things I’ve been meaning to blog about, and I have vowed to come back and start telling stories again. It’s important, and I really do miss it. I’ve actually been scared to open up this blog again. I think that silence can do that to a blogger. We grow silent and it perpetuates, and after a while it’s just not important anymore. That doesn’t sit well with me, though, because I love to share. I’m a self-proclaimed over-sharer. I need it. I crave it. I must do it.
So, starting tonight I am going to take the plunge. I’m going to over-share and I’m going to like it. *You might, too.
*Three out of four of my biggest blog fans are pictured above. Someday it’ll be four out of four, but the littlest of my fans is only just learning how to read.
Six.
Updated: The Canvas winner, as determined by Random.org is Jodi! Congratulations!
Six years ago I created this space to write whatever came to my mind. I also wanted to be able to document funny things our children did or said, because–naturally–our children are as funny as their parents. For a long time, however, it was not made public. The space was all mine, and if I wanted to write about how I just sneezed and tinkled, at the same time, I could. Mostly, though, I wanted a space where I could–once again–write poetry and prose. I’ve been writing here for six years, in addition to the various leather bound journals that amassed through my years before children. Don’t even get me started on the forgotten notebooks and trashed pieces of napkin at the coffee shops.
I look at those old journals;
amazed at the words
that came out
from me
revealing who
I was back then
and how I’ve grown
Six years changes a person. I’ve written some of my favorite pieces here, and look back amazed at the words that have come out from me. I used to care how many people read or didn’t read, but mostly I cared about comments (read: peer validation). Now, though, I only care about four people who will read (and have started to read) my words.
This blog is for them…
Six years with almost
two thousand posts
filled with words and photos;
I will continue to write
for our family’s posterity
Sometimes to laugh
Sometimes to cry
I want for [you]
To see what I saw
To hear what I heard
To enjoy what I enjoyed
To feel what I felt
To understand what I understood
To see me as I see myself
Oh, and it wouldn’t be a “blog-o-versary” without presents!
One commenter will win their very own 16” x 20” rolled canvas print from UPrinting.com.
How, you ask?
Just comment telling me how long you’ve been blogging.
If you don’t blog, tell me what you would name your blog if you started one today!
The winner will be notified via email.
My Bliss
My Bliss: Part X
In 2009 I wrote this after Blissdom:
“Various bloggers from various blogging circles (or not) came together, but from what I observed everyone was made to feel welcomed and united. It was a great thing to witness. Every one of us unique in our own rite, just like the bricks of a building.
Together they are strong and sturdy.
Together they are beautiful and they contribute to a greater good.
Together they make up so much more than one little brick standing alone.”
Together we are strong and sturdy.
Together we defend each other.
Together we are beautiful and we contribute to a greater good.
Together we accept our differences.
Together we make up so much more than one little brick standing alone.
Together we make an impact on the world.
This is bliss—my bliss.
How Fast Things Can Change
When I first started blogging— in 2005—I was doing it purely to have a place to keep stories of the kids together. From 1998 to 2005 I had posted on bulletin boards, and realized that the stories I had shared were eventually lost in cyberspace, over time. Someone had shared a link to Dooce, and I was turned on. I could do that, I thought. I could write all the stories about our life so that one day the kids could look back and read it all. Maybe they’d laugh. Maybe they’d cry. But, they’d know that even through every up and down that they were loved beyond the words and hugs and kisses. The stories told were important. I wanted them documented and kept together, for posterity’s sake.
In 2007 I was turned on to a site called Cre8Buzz. It was there that I found “my people”, those that would become an integral part of my online community through blogging. I’d also been re-inspired to take up photography again, and the stories went from a few lines to a few paragraphs and more. Fellow bloggers would come to me, read, comment, and I would do the same. Some would come and go, others stayed. And, stayed, and stayed.
Over the years blogging has changed in ways I never would have imagined. There have been conferences, speaking engagements, trips, promotions and giveaways, brand relationships, sponsorships, business building, and solid networking. These are constantly evolving, but the one thing that stays the same are those people that became “my people”. The numbers have grown, but they are the one mainstay. People that know [you]. People that get [you]. People that love [you] unconditionally with respect and gratitude.
It’s truly been one of the biggest blessings of this little hobby that started all because I wanted to tell stories about my life.
My Bliss: Part II
I had only planned to go to Blissdom for one night. I would go in for my Workshop on Wednesday, and leave, after lunch, on Thursday. I was sad about it, but I just didn’t have the money to stay the whole time. This did not sit well with me. My heart nagged me. I needed to do something to allow me to stay the whole time. That’s when I threw out, here, on Twitter, and on Facebook, that I was offering *Heads or Tails mini-sessions.
It worked. I booked the number needed to be able to go the entire time. I started to make driving and sleeping arrangements. Things started to come together perfectly. When the weather became a minor issue, I decided it would be best to leave a day early. Luckily, that worked out, too. And, just in time the boots and skirt that I had ordered, almost two weeks prior, arrived just before we were all ready to shove off.
On Tuesday morning, I set off with Renee (and her little boy, Mekhi), to Tennessee.
When we got to the hotel we ate and gabbed.
I’ve known Renee for a couple years now and she is nothing but class and beauty; to boot, she’s articulate and smart and funny! I’ve had the pleasure of taking two trips with Renee, but this trip to Nashville was the best. We laughed a lot. That’s definitely a prerequisite for a good car trip.
Soon after we ate I got a text from Lotus. She was in the Opryland, so we met up and headed to our room. Her belly was growling so I introduced her to Stax, and then we went to our Wisdom Workshop meeting. There we saw a bunch of our friends. It was real, and it was here.
After the meeting Lotus, Schmutzie, and I walked the long way to Stax so that Schmutzie could eat. Along the way we intercepted a spectacular water and light show. It was mesmerizing with the moving water, the music, the darkness and the lights. We took that moment to capture it, but we also took that moment to thoroughly enjoy it.
After we sat for a while, Lotus and I walked back to our room to wait for Leslie and Victoria.
Blissdom was officially starting.
My Bliss was here and I was totally ready to accept it.
*Heads or Tails: Michael coined the phrase to describe my Headshot and/or Bouidor mini-sessions. Thanks, Michael, you witty man, you!
The Story of BlogHer {Part III}
Swimming In The Sea
Last year after BlogHer in Chicago I was moved to write about those that touched me. Those people that I had connected with through blogging that finally materialized into living, breathing creatures before me. People that could hug me. People that could laugh at my silliness. People that would share real life moments in a real live city, and not just via email, twitter, or the blogosphere. I wrote about them, introducing them [to you], because it was a new level of love and admiration that had sprung forth from the conference.
This year I came to find that the conference morphed into being more about me and who I am in the grand scheme of the matrix of bloggers and personalities. There were familiar faces everywhere. There were quickly passing minutes on a cushy bench; perfect for a quick gab session. There were hugs and kisses in the elevator, as well as accidental encounters. There were waves from across the estrogen filled room. There were commitments, and parties, and very little downtime—until it was solidly scheduled in. There was so much, so many, and so little time that—at times—it kinda felt a little bit like drowning.
Around every corner, though, was instant resuscitation; whether it was the quiet of a hotel room in the early morning hours, the seclusion of an unused panel room where tears were shared along with smiles and words of wisdom, or the arms of a group of besties enveloping you. It didn’t matter, it was there and accessible. The best part being that you didn’t have to look hard to find it, you just had to keep swimming.
