Blogging. Out of Control?

This weekend, the New York Times published an article written by Jennifer Mendelsohn entitled, "Honey, Don't Bother Mommy. I'm Too Busy Building My Brand." If you're a blogger and you haven't read this article, I definitely think you should. Whether you agree or disagree with it is simply your prerogative but I find it an interesting read by a journalist who also happens to be a blogger. Equally interesting is the response this article is getting in the blogging world. You can read many of the responses starting with SITS (The Secret is in the Sauce) - the blogging society to which the NYT article referred. SITS has linked their response to all sorts of other blogs with responses to the article.

I have been blogging since March of 2006. My husband started our family blog, The World of Noffs, himself after seeing his friend's blog. He loved the idea of close friends and family being able to see the latest pictures and hear the latest stories of our new son who was merely three months old at the time. Quite frankly, I loved the idea as well. My family lived at least 2 hours away, some further, and I was constantly being hit up for more pictures. Now I could tell them, "check the blog". Since Mike worked full-time and I had given up my job to stay home with Keegan, I soon took over the the blog. Again, it was simply a way for friends and family to stay updated with our family of three. If blogging conferences, communities, memes, etc. were going on at this time I had no idea and didn't care. I was completely focused on Keegan and my new purpose in life.

Then 90 posts ago, this blog was born. I sought a creative outlet for all the noise in my head and didn't want to lay it all out there on my original blog for certain family members to read. That may sound silly to some of you but it's the truth. I wanted to be able to express myself and maybe inspire myself and didn't need criticism from certain individuals. The more blogs I began to follow, the more I began to realize that there could be a lot more to this blogging stuff. I saw advertisements for anything and everything on blogs by moms who stayed at home just like me. These moms were also receiving free stuff in exchange for a blog post about the product. The blogging craze quickly sucked me in and I began thinking, I wanna do this! I want the free stuff! I want to get paid to display an advertisement on my blog. I want 500 followers or more! I want to see MY button on other blogs! I began joining blogging communities to get my blog URL out there. I started following more blogs and commenting on them, hoping someone would think my comment sweet or witty and click on my URL just to see what else I had to say. As my number of followers rose, the more excited I got about all this blog and where it could go. The increasing numbers and comments were romancing me into mass hysteria. And I fell for it. Hard. Who would have thought people wanted to tune in each day and see what this country girl from a small town in Kentucky had to say? I found myself saying to my kids, just a minute. Not right now. What movie do you want to watch next? Go play. All because I was busy reading the insane number of blogs I follow, trying to keep up with all of the blog communities I'd joined, typing a post or trying to figure out how to change the font on my blog post titles. I found myself rushing around at the end of each day trying to catch up on the housework, get dinner made and kids ready for bed so that it looked like I'd done something when the husband got home from work. Not that my husband minds me being on the computer or that I skip over the housework. My husband is a miracle sent from God. He loves me, clean house or no. But my guilty conscience was beginning to get to me; hence, the rushing around at days' end.

Now, I get that everyone is different. I have two small children at home with me all day, everyday. I am responsible for cleaning our house, doing our laundry and cooking all of our meals. I am fully aware that this is not the case for everyone. And besides, different strokes for different folks. I am in no way, shape or form taking sides on this blogging issue. But I've sort of had an epiphany as of late. For me, blogging as a whole has gotten a little out of control. I hardly scrapbook anymore. I don't spend half as much time cooking as I used to or experiment with my camera anymore. I spend less time engaging with my kids. I'd rather sit in front of the computer perusing blogs, blogging communities or tutorials. I'm not saying I won't be sitting next to someone from SITS a few years from now at Bloggy Boot Camp learning how to put together my media kit or that I won't even by writing an article for the NYT bashing said "boot camp" . My blog could become one, big, blinking advertisement or not. Only time will tell. But at this point in my life, I am going back to why I started the blog in the first place - a creative outlet, some creative inspiration to share with my followers, or lack thereof. My blog is for me. And if you enjoy reading about my journey and all the noise in my head, I hope you will follow. This Kentucky girl has a lot to say. But my family needs me to spend less time on the computer. I need me to spend less time on the computer. I will continue to post, though it might not be everyday. I will probably continue changing things around upon occasion, but when I have the time and not at the sacrifice of time with my husband or kids. I do enjoy blogging and will continue to do it. You won't get rid of me that easily.

I open the floor to comments on the NYT article or the responses from SITS and other blogging moms. I would love to hear your reactions to both.

Back On Track

Good morning, everyone! Though it is Monday. Blah. The dishwasher is going, laundry underway and I've only had to heat up my coffee once so far.

The kiddos and I made it back to Memphis safe & sound and were very happy to see the hubs and sleep in our own beds. We had a fantastic time with our friends and family. Wish we could have brought them all back with us. But such is life. We took lots of great pictures and to see all of them you can visit my family blog here. I would like to share one incredible picture with you. This is a gorgeous Kentucky sunset. I spotted this behind my parents' house one night and couldn't resist. Doesn't it look like the sky is on fire? Incredible indeed.

I enjoyed some quality time with my precious great-grandmother. She had found a quilt my grandmother had been working on before she passed and gave it to me to finish. She gave me a quick tutorial and I'm hoping to do her proud. Again, visit my family blog to see pictures of her teaching me to quilt. I didn't want to bore those not interested (one of the reasons I keep a separate blog). I do, however, hope to post some before & after pictures of the quilt once I finish. I worked on it a bit last night and there is something extremely satisfying about using my hands to finish this quilt - a quilt my great-grandmother, my grandmother and now I have all worked on together. I'm feeling creatively empowered. I just might find myself inside a quilting store very soon. Now THAT'S something I never thought I'd hear myself say.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! It's good to be back on track in the blogger world!

Uplifting

Good morning to you all! First, you may have noticed a few new options on my blog. I am learning as I go so be patient with all of my experiments. I am hoping to add more fun things to it in the near future. Please feel free to click around but remember it's still a work in progress as am I.

Next.... I am terribly excited to be going home this weekend to visit my family in Kentucky as well as two of my oldest and dearest friends. It has been too long since I've been able to sit down with girlfriends who really know me and love me just the same. I have been friends with these women since we were second graders. Thirty-five years young, that seems an eternity ago. It is very uplifting to know I will be in the presence of such true friends. I have missed them more than I realized. We all have children of our own now and it will be wonderful to see friendships between them develop. I sure wish we all lived closer. But such is life. For now, we try to plan our trips back home at the same time just to capture a few hours together to catch up. I hope to get some great pics of us and our children. I'm also going to experiment with my camera a bit and try for some great inspirational shots to share. I have pulled out the user guide to my camera to learn more and work with what I have until the time comes to purchase my dream camera (more on that later). Where was I? Oh yes, friendship. Spring has come early for me. I'm off to bask in the sunlight of true friends. I will try to blog while in Kentucky, but if you don't hear from me for a few days, don't worry. I'll be back to rattle off some more nonsense as soon as I can. I hope my excitement inspires you to call up some old friends this weekend.