A Year of Blogging

 

A year ago on Sep 5, 2021, I posted my very first blog entry, thanks to Kerry Clare’s blog school which launched me into the blogging world.

My very first post was: Sparking Joy, Being Average. There have been 57 posts since then.

What has blogging meant to me and why do I keep doing it?

It has been a place to articulate my thoughts (and sometimes rants), express what I’m passionate about (books, writing, walking) as well as exhibit bad poetry and artistic attempts. It’s a little corner on the internet that I can call my own. But it has also opened up a world where I’ve connected with other bloggers, readers and writers. My TBR (to be read) list has grown exponentially since then, as well as the blogs I read regularly.

Blogging can be a vulnerable thing (as is any form of writing and expressing yourself), in that you allow others a glimpse into your interior life. And that interior may be messy and chaotic, sometimes unpredictable, sometimes rich and meandering. You are allowing others to form opinions and judgements on that interior life. Writing is a solitary pursuit. But once you launch your words into the yonder, not knowing where they may land, you expose yourself. You throw out thoughts and words, reach out a hand, inviting people to simply read, or read and engage, not knowing what may return to you.

These, in no particular order, are some of the blogs I read regularly, and why:

-          Pickle Me This. I can count on Kerry Clare’s blog for several things: thoughtful book reviews which will inform my next reads; a generous sharing of snippets from other blogs that lead me to new finds; an abundance of honest and well-thought out observations on a wide array of topics from abortion to mental health to motherhood to swimming. Kerry Clare is one of the most authentic people I follow on social media and she is a true champion of readers, writers, bloggers and artists.

-          Theresa Kishkan.  Kishkan’s posts are always lyrical and musical. She has a dreamy way with words that I envy. She is a writer who does indeed live in a spot of paradise on the west coast, and her blog sometimes makes me wonder what life would be like in such an idyllic setting. Does where we live shape our thoughts and actions, slow down our thinking, make us who we are? Does it soften us inside when we are faced with the magnificence of nature? Do we choose to live in such places because of who we are, or does the place make us?

-          The Urban Info Girl. I love the voice of this blogger, with her quirky mix of insight and humour, and bonus – she lives just west of me, so if there's something she recommends nearby I could go check it out. She doesn’t post nearly as often as I wish she would. Are you listening Urban Info Girl?

-          LoveLoveMotherExpletive. Ditto to the voice above. This blogger has a feisty, funny, this-is-who-I-am kind of voice. Midlife-ish mother of a few kids (not sure how many); I could read about what she ate for breakfast and be fully into it.

-          Writing Across Borders. Another blogger who lives in a piece of paradise. This is the kind of quiet blogger’s voice that I’ve really grown to appreciate. Small observations and questions posed that make me stop and think.

-          Ageless Possibilities.  This blogger writes about a topic that is close to my heart – older women and what they discover about life, themselves, shifting perspectives and realizations, increasing satisfaction and joy, pursuing new passions as they age. She generally posts on Sunday (I subscribe to her blog via email), and as soon as one of those emails pops into my inbox, I am usually reading the blog post within a few minutes.

-          Becoming With Wonder and Possibility. This is a blogger who I feel I’ve witnessed grow and flourish in the online world. She was in the blogging course I started a year ago and even in those early days, I got the sense she was an old soul. I love how she carefully considers her world, with such intentional deliberation and wisdom.

-          Little Yellow Bungalow. This is another blogger who was in my blogging class a year ago. Another older woman with observations on the changing world from her own, unique perspective.

-          Diane Schuller. Diane’s photography is always delightful and reveal a keen eye. But then she also accompanies her beautiful pictures with words on the small wonders and beauty in life, things that are easily missed in our busyness.

There are other blogs I read and follow (not only Canadian ones, although the above all are). And even though I’ve never met any of these women in real life, I feel like on some level I get them, and understand things about them that I might never know if we had merely met a few times at a dinner party. It’s getting to peek below the surface, to another level of connection and understanding. These blogs assure me that there are others out there who read and feel, think and worry and obsess about the small stuff as well as the big stuff,  lament and laugh, struggle and overcome, and ultimately, look out at the world with curiosity.  It’s a community of bloggers writing their way through life.

This is why I blog.