Have a picture of a seagull.
This isn’t just a seagull, this is a symbol of friendship. Susan sent me the sketch set used to draw it as a surprise present, this sketch is by way of a thank you.
We’ve built our friendship online, through our blogs, through twitter, through instagram. We’re watching each other’s children growing up, through pictures on screens, at a distance. We keep in touch via messaging, and oh so very occasionally at blog events.
And this is what blogs were for me from the very beginning. They were community, the over the garden fence conversation about day to day life, keeping in touch with friends from the home ed world in between our annual camping holidays, and youth hostel visits. (I kind of miss the camping. But as our children have got older and gone in different directions, it’s harder and harder to coordinate families together.)
Our blogs have drifted apart a little too. As children get older, it gets more difficult to talk about issues that are personal to them, without tangling up the details of their stories with your own. Everyone can share a funny potty training or weaning story, but it’s harder to write about your offspring’s first relationship, or its end, without going into details that aren’t all that shareable.
And people aren’t reading and writing blogs in the same way. We sold out a little – lent some of our real estate to brands in exchange for things and money. It’s hard to write authentically about family and shoe horn in a quick advert (although I’m afraid I’m not going to be giving that up, a girl has to earn a living after all).
I’d prefer to earn a living doing some technical consultancy, but I far too readily give it away for free, and I’m not very good at charging. I’m trying some affirmations as seen on the lovely Writeforjoy instagram stream – I am ready and willing to accept new revenue streams. (ommmm.) So if you’re looking for a wordpress or social media consultant, do let me know. Always open to (certain) brand ambassador roles too. (Cameras, phones, laptops top of my wishlist at the moment. Well, if you don’t ask, you don’t get, right?)
Why am I still blogging? Because I’m still building community. Because it is still a place for me to work things out, touch other people, get and give support. Because I have made some of my closest friends through this blog, and because I suspect there are still friends out there I just haven’t met yet.
And yes, because I’ve got a stack of review products I haven’t reviewed yet, I’ve never won a blog award and I really really want to, and because blogging is what I do. The person I’ve got to know best through blogging is myself, and I’m fairly sure there are still things to work out there too.
Why do you blog? And if you don’t, why not?
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