Well, if this was a TV show. And a network was interested.
Since this is one of thousands of blogs written by moms on the internet, and where the number of posts isn't based on whether or not people actually like what you write, but if you actually sit down and write, it loses a little bit of the shimmer.
Still, in just under 9 months, with two small girls, I have managed to sit down at my laptop and write a few hundred words over 100 times. I've learned how to create logos, add plugins, review products, and network with other bloggers. I made it onto two Top 25 lists and had two articles published on Circle of Moms (back before PopSugar...sigh).
So maybe I do feel a little bit proud.
I started blogging because I like to talk. I like to share stories. I consider myself somewhat of a "storyteller". I would call my best friend daily, and weave narratives about something mundane that happened, making it (hopefully) interesting. Whenever anyone asked about the girls, I would chatter on, telling stories about the cute, sweet and silly things they did. Or I'd get philosophical, thinking about where I was going in life. While she had two little boys running around and I had two little girls running (and laying) around. I'm a chatterbox (or, as I prefer, storyteller).
Seriously. I'm sort of surprised we're still best friends.
We are (at least, I'm pretty sure we are). We still talk daily and we still share stories. But her husband has told me many times that I'm not allowed to share any of her stories, so we talk about things I don't write about.
I kept thinking that I needed to document these early days, this massive shift in my life, in a more...lasting way.
I used to scrapbook often, but I stopped.
I wasn't great at taking, printing, and sharing pictures.
I needed a place to share these stories, these anecdotes, these reflections.
So I started a blog.
I was pretty sure my mom would read it. And my mother in law. And maybe some friends. I had absolutely no plans past that. I wasn't attempting to be an internet sensation, or anything like that. It was a place to share cute stories.
Now I'm 100 posts in, and I'm nowhere close to an internet sensation (duh). No one is knocking down my door to write a book (I'm considering it anyway) or syndicate my writing. I have more readers than my close circle of friends, but I'm also not one of those bloggers who counts hits in 1000s.
I write now because I've found that I love writing. I went through a stage in high school where I loved writing. I wrote plays and stories and as life happened, I pictured how it would be as a play, sitcom, novel, whatever. Just in my head (most of the time), but I did it. As I got more involved in music, writing slipped to the back of my mind.
When I was getting my Master's degree, I had to take a class in writing. Yes, much of the class was focused on how to teach writing. But every class we had an assignment due. An exploded moment. A reflection. A memoir. A story based on a picture.
I loved that class. I really wanted to keep writing.
But I was getting pregnant, and working with the National Choir, and teaching, and all that other "life" stuff. Then I sort of forgot about it once Madison was born and I went through a year of being completely overwhelmed balancing Madison, my teaching, my friendships, my marriage, Madison's medical needs, and then a surprise second pregnancy.
Now I plan to keep writing. And right now, this blog is my space to do that.
Someone asked me recently if I consider this blog a success.
By blog standards, I really shouldn't. I'm not making money, I'm not getting opportunities, I'm not getting thousands of hits a day.
But it's like many "performance" based hobbies. I'll use the ones I've been involved in.
If you love to sing, you sing. You can't help it. You love it. But are you successful if you never sell out a concert hall? Are you successful if you never have your own concert? Can you still be a good singer?
If you love to act, you act. You can't help it. You love it. Are you successful if you never get past community theater? Are you still a good actor?
No, I'm not in magazines. I don't have a book. I've had my blog receive over 1000 hits exactly three times. I've found that success is combination of persistence, creativity, and a big dose of luck (or more aptly, writing the right post at the right time and somehow having it shared by the right people). Maybe I'll get there some day. Maybe I won't. Either way, I plan to write at least another hundred posts.
Do I consider this a successful venture?
Absolutely.
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| A book, a laptop, a boppy, and a baby. Those were the days! |
