When I took the month of June off from the blog, it wasn’t intentional. Life got really busy, and I was exhausted in the evenings when I usually would write. I was also feeling uninspired and rather unmotivated. So during that month away, I started thinking about why I started this blog and why I even take the time to write in the first place. Here is what I learned by asking myself those questions:
1. Organizing my thoughts…
When I write, I can sort out my thoughts, ideas and feelings better. Writing gives me a chance to order my ideas in a more logical way. As an INFP on the Myers-Briggs and a Type 4 on the enneagram, I constantly have an ENORMOUS amount of thoughts and feelings swirling around inside that need a constructive outlet. Writing about things I am thinking about or feeling is therapeutic for me because I can get some of those pent up ideas out of my head and in black and white.
2. Learning and growing…
Blogging also encourages me to learn more about the topics in which I am interested so that I can better share about it with you. I write to learn, because when I process what I am reading about through the written word, it helps me retain and synthesize that knowledge. And when I share ideas or lessons I am learning with you, I have a certain level of accountability to take action and move forward.
3. Encouraging others…
I write to share my story and let people know they are not the only ones with doubts, fears, heartaches and tears. Maybe, just maybe, there is someone else out there who feels and thinks and wonders some of the same things I do. My hope is that what I write will help or encourage someone in similar circumstances or wrestling with similar challenges. I want my blog to be uplifting and beneficial to you, my friends and readers, whoever and wherever you may be.
4. Building community…
Along those same lines, one of my goals for this website has always been to build community. In this online, social-media driven world, it is increasingly hard to find local friends who are willing to take the time to spend doing life with each other. Because our family is more apt to move frequently due to changes in ministry callings, the mobility of the online world makes it easier to get in touch and stay connected with people across the miles. And I know that it is hard to find like-minded people when moving to a new place. Although I have been blessed to find a lot of women in my area who share similar interests and values, I know that is not the case for everyone. So sharing a bit of our lives online allows us to make contact and find our tribe, no matter the physical distance.
5. Made to create…
I am made in the image of the Creator, and therefore, I am creative. As Jonathan Rogers so aptly put it in his most recent newsletter:
Exercising your creativity makes you more fully human. If that sounds too touchy-feely, let me put it this way: Creativity is one of the most important ways that you engage reality. We make things more beautiful than they have to be because the world is more beautiful than it has to be.
I love the written and spoken word, so this is a type of creativity that naturally flows from me. I am painfully aware, however, that my skills as a writer are weak. So I write to flex that creative muscle, to hone my skill, so become better at creating so that I bring more glory to my own Creator.
I DON’T write because…
Perhaps the biggest takeaway I had from my blogging break was actually the one thing that is not and cannot and will be my motivation for writing. It is this: I DON’T write to make money. I am not aiming to have posts go viral on Facebook or be the most popular pins on Pinterest or anything like that.
Yes, I would love for my readers to support the cost of running this blog by using my affiliate links. But I am not going to write on topics that I don’t honestly care about just because I think that will make my blog more popular. I’m not going to focus on monetizing this site.
Know that if I do post links to other blogger’s products it is because I really, truly think they are helpful resources that I want my friends to know about. It’s not because I am out to get your money. My friend Crystal has said it time and time again that if you are in the blogging business just to make money, you will burn out hard and fast. I believe it!
From the heart…
So, I am letting you know from here on out, I am going to write from the heart. I will write about things that pique my interest, things that are hard for me, things that I think will be helpful to you….whatever topics align with my vision and goals for this space and my writing life. I hope you will connect with me here in the comments and on Facebook or Instagram so we can build community around these ideas of uplifting and coming alongside one another through the written word!
