Friday, November 15, 2013

Peeking out from behind the clouds...

So...I've been a bit quiet; on a bit of a hiatus.

I've been feeling the need to be a bit insular. I haven't even been thinking "oh, I should blog about that!"

Then I read this - 16 ways to get super-excited about your blog again. No. 1 was take a break. Too easy.

No. 2 was to ask yourself why you started blogging in the first place. And today I read Erin's post about the Challenges of Blogging. And it got me thinking. Thinking enough to put fingers to keyboard.

My first blog post was a contribution to The Homeschool Mother's Journal, originally at the now-defunct The Homeschool Chick, as a way of recording what we've been doing for home schooling. I wonder how many of those early followers are still reading? Hello and big cudos to you, if you are! I then started to branch out with my own posts and eventually ditched the Homeschool Mother's Journal entries, because they felt simultaneously too onerous and too restrictive.

If I go look at my stats (which I don't often), I can get nearly 300 page views in a day - without even posting anything new!!! Huh! Someone out there is reading my stuff. Hi!!!

Mostly my blog is about homeschooling - what learning my kids and I do. As they are getting older and into the teen years, they are more sensitive to me putting their faces, their stories up for THE WHOLE WORLD to read. So I need to bear that in mind, respect that, whilst also knowing that our story, the things we do, the way we homeschool inspires and helps other people. That's pretty cool.

I've recently also been blogging and interacting a little more in the gifted world, particularly the wonderful people at Gifted Homeschoolers Forum, because if other people are going to "get" me, it will be other people blogging about homeschooling gifted (and twice-exceptional) kids.

I diverge into cooking and the occasional (well, one) fashion blogpost (my second most popular post ever). I love keeping it real - showing the warts and all. Call it over-sharing if you will, but the minutiae of life is what glues us together.

I know a few of you LOVE my travel posts, when we venture out into the real world (or at least go on a cruise). For some unknown reason, my most popular post ever was our 2nd day in Hong Kong - go figure. Must be some weird Google phenomenon.

The blogs I love to read are the ones that let me peek into their lives - not just their homeschooling (and sometimes not even any homeschooling). That make me laugh, cry, yell "oh yes! me too!" at my computer/phone screen. Which is why it feels weird that part of the reason I feel hesitant about blogging lately is because I kinda have to put my self out there. Out there for people to comment on (even if they don't type those comments in the comments section). And if I'm feeling fragile (and I have of late), I don't know if I want to even imagine that. I know I don't want to be "famous" - there's no way I think I actually would like to be a Woogsworld or blog for an income.

So I think I will just write a bit.

I'll probably never write my novel (although I did write a helpful book!), so this blog is kind of like my writing exercises...that I share with anyone who cares to read them. Sometimes it will be funny, sometimes it will be useful (I have a few of those posts in draft form), sometimes it might even be a bit sad. But it will always be me, in all my imperfect, paranoid, effusive, over-enthusiastic glory. That would be OK, wouldn't it?


Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Retreating...


Heya. How goes it?

I've been pretty quiet here of late. Busy in real life (what else is new) and I don't really know why, but for some reason, I feel very much like retreating into my little virtual cave.

I don't feel like sharing my every thought on Facebook.

I don't want to put pics of my family up on Instagram.

I don't want to be giving advice to people.

Where before I wanted to share my ideas, now I feel as if writing posts is just one more thing I "have" to get done.

It's all a bit too much at the moment.

I just want to be present with my kids when I am at home.

I want to be able to go to work, earn a bit of pocket money, and come home.

I want to look after my family, cook, learn, help with our business.

I need to cocoon myself away for a bit.

I think that's probably normal and natural - going through cycles of feeling excited about the world and wanting to share that with others and then feeling like that's enough sharing for the moment. Quite possibly it's a very nasty case of PMS and in a week or so I'll get around to finishing off a couple of posts and be back to oversharing with the world.

But for now...just for a bit longer...I'm off to have a little nap.

Embroidery Project - Blue Butterfly

I downloaded this pattern as a PDF from Hoop Embroidery Co on Esty as my first attempt at the technique known as "thread painting"...