Thursday, September 22, 2011

Why do you blog?

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up. Isn't it?

For me it's work. And housework. And trying to be a super-mum. Failing miserably. Feeling like I have to blog/ tweet/ Facebook/ Youtube every second to keep up. With what, I don't know. Again, failing miserably.

I love my blog. But this year Ive taken a step back. I used to think constantly about it - what dazzling bit of literary genius I could unleash on a daily basis. worrying about how many followers I had/ didn't have, tweaking with gadgets and gizmos to give myself the 'edge'...

I started my blog three years ago as a way of recording my life and the inspirations I came across along the way. I had given up work and was a bit lost. At the time there were about a tenth of the blogs there are now; I felt like I could keep a grip on the content that was out there and I quickly developed 'friendships' with fellow women on similar paths. At the time, no one else I knew blogged.

Nowadays of course, nearly everyone has some form of blog. Don't they? And where I once felt cozy and warm in the little blogging bubble I often feel like a little fish in an Atlantic sized fish bowl, with barrages upon barrages of information that I can never possibly hope to keep up with no matter how hard I try. And I find the bigger it gets the less I try...

Blogging is harder to keep up with now, don't you think? I mean. There's conferences and national awards and large companies beating down doors to get access to this rapidly expanding inner sanctum of the modern woman. I've been approached by prospective 'sponsors' along the way but a conscious decision I made early on was not to dilate my space with advertisers and advertising. I never started a blog to make money. Money as not a motivating factor for blogging for me at all.

They say in order for information to exist is has to have three forms of backup. Well, if you don't have a personal blog, a Facebook and Twitter account... do you exist? I sometimes wonder...

This year - of course - I started my Bubby Makes Three business. My little Etsy store that started with five sets of bloomers/ singlets and has now grown and expanded in ways I could only have dreamed! It's given me a new focus and creative outlet and has given me a new purpose and vigour for life... I love everything about my little business and the success I have had in such a relatively short time and I have bigger dreams for it that I will share with you later...

People often ask me where I find the time. And the answer is - I don't! The truth is folks, there are only 24 hours in the day. I've got two little kids. And a a business. You can't do it all (I know, I've tried!) and something's gotta give. In some ways for me, its been my blog. I can't give it what I used to but I've stopped feeling guilty about it!

My blog is still here bubbling away in the background and I still have a soft spot for it in my heart... it's just that its taken a backseat to other things. I still blog because I still have things I want to say. To share. To communicate with the outside world. And I still cherish those that take the time to visit. To leave a little comment. To pop me an email. I never get tired of that.

But it's not my sole focus. I want to take time out with my children to feed the ducks. And today folks, I did! With girl's from the original mothers-group I attended with Fern...

why do YOU blog? Do you think the blogging landscape has changed since you started and how? Do you feel you need to 'keep up'? I'd love your thoughts on this!!
x



5 comments:

  1. I blog just for me... i love if other people read it, and I love the comments I get but at the end of the day I like blogging because I can record what I've done every now and then and remind myself that I do actually get stuff done sometimes (because that can be hard to remember when you're a mum).

    I started blogging in 2007 and it was easier back then, I made connections more easily but I also didn't have kids and could spend more time doing it. I've given up on needing to keep up with it all, my google reader always has over 1000 unread things in it. But I do feel bad if I don't reply to comments and I think I'm missing out on some connections because I don't reply enough.. but at the end of the day I do it for me and if I can't find the time to comment on everyone's blog and write long emails in reply to everyone's comment then I have learned to let that go because you can only give so much of yourself and otherwise I'd go mental.

    Sorry for the dribble.. it's late, I should be finishing an assignment :)

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  2. Why DON"T I blog is the question for me. I love reading them. I love being able to comment, and so participate in the discussion. You can't do that with a newspaper column. I would LOVE to blog and am constantly composing posts in my head, but I know I couldn't commit to it on a regular basis. I would rather read others' thoughts at the moment! But I do love to write, have always kept a personal journal (for my eyes only) and so haven't ruled out blogging one day. Creativity can be expressed in so many ways - I think writing about something for which you have a passion, or even just the Everyday, ensures that it doesn't pass unnoticed, unremembered. I find my journal helps to anchor things that would otherwise just float away - especially with growing children, things just move so fast. Stopping to catch it all on paper (or virtual paper!) is good for the soul.

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  3. What a great post Nicole. I found this particularly timely for me and also extremely informative and inspirational. I totally agree, the blogging world is quite phenomenal. I would never of believed just how many blogs are out there, until I started one myself, almost a year ago. I also didn't realise just how big an empire a blog can create. I'm quite in awe of many bloggers and I wish there were more hours in the day for me to keep up with reading all of them. But as you said, there just isn't enough time.
    For me personally, my blog is about recording thoughts and feelings and experiences, because I know I won't remember them all. But I'd like my boys to be able to read the stories one day, if they choose.
    Congratulations on the etsy business, I'm very impressed by all these clever Mama's like yourself out there. I'm only a new follower, but thoroughly enjoy when you do post :o) xo

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  4. Hey Nicole,
    Great post :)
    I am the same! I started my blog 18months ago...as a way to 'promote' my business, a journal as a Mummy & a keepsake of 'pretty' things. I blogged daily {sometimes twice} and gave it all my time & energy {usually at the sacrifice of sleep at night} whilst also juggling being a mum, wife, house-owner, business owner, school teacher etc etc.
    As last year came to an end, I reflected back on my role in the bloggy world & made some decisions to change my motives, my reasons & my direction. I thought "What will I like to see on my blog when I read it in 2, 5, 10, 20 years time?" And to be honest....the only thing I will want to read back on & cherish....is my journey as a Mummy & wife. So, thats my focus nowadays....its our family journal! If I have time to blog...all good & well, and if I don't....no stress. I like to live in the moment more these days & then reflect afterwards!
    Whatever works for each writer/blogger is different and I think it takes a while for new bloggers to fall into their groove :) It took me 12 months of writing & linking to find where I was most happiest on my own blog :)
    xo

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  5. oh thank god someone said it. i feel in the minority. i love the community and all that blogging has - everyone is so nice and supportive etc, but it just seems all too much now! all the meet-ups and conferences etc. and don't get me started on social media. i am on facebook and twitter (but totally cheat and have the same "update" go to all of them!) but i can barely keep up with it all. i know i miss out on so much but i just can't find the time to read blogs or every update. i don't even read the news!!!! i'd rather live life than read about someone elses... the way blogging has taken over the world - and then those digital magazines... the new blog was a magazine. the new magazine was a workshop - i can't keep up!! and i'm very conflicted about the whole "treating bloggers as journalists/press" that's going on at the moment. as both a journo and a blogger, i just feel a bit uncomfortable about it! not sure why... i blogged as a record of my projects etc and it grew into more - i certainly didn't go all out to do so, it just sort of found me. i owe a lot to my blog - i've got a lot of work out of it and i've taken on advertisers and i appreciate it all. but i am running out of time to dedicate to it and it happened at a time when it was really taking off... i'm at one of those moments in life where i literally don't know what i want to do work-wise anymore and so i think that , paired with a lack of sleep and not having a home of my own anymore and all the other craziness in my life (read: 3 children!) has me uninspired at times. i get bursts of energy and start with the posts, but then i get all "ohhh should i keep going? will anyone miss me? am i blogging boring stuff now?" and while i'm thinking all this i suddenly have to go break up a fight or take the kids to the park and so it gets shoved back to the side. poor neglected thing... i keep getting the itch to change it up a bit but just don't know HOW or WHAT. i'm very indecisive!!!!!
    and its been so bloody long since i've read blogs properly i didn't even know you had a business. but i LOVE your chalkboard shirts. and you know what? I'm going to blog about them :) xxx

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