{ Do yourself a favor }

Sometimes all you need is to go back through your blog, really go back and read some of your previous posts.  It was like the light came back on and I remembered why I started blogging and how much I love it.

Life is crazy, life changes, WE change and I feel like at times we're constantly trying to adapt to what is going on around us.

Blogging is not what it used to be, not by far.  What started as a simple way for us homemakers and moms to connect with others, to share our experiences, to stay in touch with family and just have a platform to speak about the mundane things we do on a daily basis, has become something so Hollywoodized....I know not a word, but it perfectly describes what I feel about this.

I used to be able to look through blogs and find tons of like minded individuals, cute little blogs filled with recipes, family stories, pictures of toddlers getting up to their usual naughty business and moms venting about their feelings of inadequacy or loneliness, or asking for advice, sharing their budgets and their meal plans and giving words of comfort to others like them.

Now, when I try to find blogs it all seems so commercialized.  It's all about how much money you can make through your blog, how many giveaways, how smart, how to write acceptable blog posts and what you should and shouldn't do.

My question....WHY???

When did blogging become a business, when did it become a place where you feel like you should be watching tutorials or reading manuals or taking classes so you can make a simple post about your day?

It's not something I enjoy and I think it is one of the reasons, amongst others, why I've felt less attracted to the whole blogging thing.  I kind of feel like I want to remove myself from it, like I should be trying to maintain my blog's integrity, shielding it from the ever fast paced life that the blog world has taken on.

But then on the other hand, I look at my blog and I see what it is, why it was started and amongst the ever changing blog world, I want to keep it just as it is.  Maybe it will be one of the very few original blogs that is all about....well.....life, as a mom, a wife, a retired Air Force family, a crafter, and homemaker who makes not a single penny from this venture.

So my challenge to you today, if you've had a blog for years, is to take a few moments, go back to your very first posts and read.  You'll be surprised at the excitement and joy you exuded during those first few words on the internet. Then keep reading, keep going, because if anything it will remind you of what YOUR blog is all about, and what you wanted it to be.

Do me a favor, don't get caught up in the shoulds and shouldn'ts of this *new blogging* world.  There is no such thing as the right or wrong way to write a post, it's your blog, it's about you, and unless someone lives your life and knows what you're thinking or doing, they have no right telling you one way or the other.

In this new day and age where the PC police seem to run rampant, and such airs of self importance and self entitlement abound, it's good to remember where you came from and what you're doing, unless you're really into following the masses, in that case, go for it.  But if you're like me, just little ol' me who likes nothing more than to sit down with a good book and a cup of coffee after washing the dishes and straightening up the house, do what is right for you and stick to your guns, don't let anyone dictate what your blog should look like, how many posts you should have, what kind of ads you need on it and how much money you should be making from it.

That's the best advice I can give you.  Usually I wouldn't even make a post like this, but as I sat here thinking about my own reasons for either continuing on with this blog, or stopping altogether, I have received so many messages from other like minded women expressing the feeling that they feel pressured into a certain standard of blogging, and that my friends is sad.

So I'm making a conscious effort to maintain what my blog is about, to never change it, whether its look or the content of the posts, it doesn't matter.  I want my readers who have been here from the very beginning in 2006 to feel like this is home, familiar, not like a completely different blog they stumbled upon.

I'm not saying that I'll be back to blogging every single day, I'm not sure I'm quite there yet, but what I can promise you is that I'm not going anywhere, and that I WILL continue posting albeit a little sporadic for the moment, and that the posts you see will be all about life and homemaking, cooking, and kids and husband and what I'm watching on TV etc.

If you've been reading my blog for years and are still around, thank you, from the bottom of my heart because you have no idea how much that means to me, and if you're just now starting, then welcome and I truly do hope you enjoy what you see :)

Blessings,
Sandra