Blogversation: New Year’s Resolutions

I pretty much turn a blind eye to New Year’s Eve (see my post over at TIWTPITF as to why) but I do like to use the New Year to assess where I am in life, even if I don’t make official resolutions.

This year, I was invited to a party where we would create vision boards. Now, I usually poo poo the woo woo, but I’ve been working hard to change some of my behavior and thinking. I have worked with a leadership coach for six years so I’m constantly thinking about change and vision. But I often keep things to myself, afraid to say out loud what I want for my life, for fear of appearing weak or incomplete or silly. Clearly, I haven’t been working “The Secret.”

So I'm outing myself. This year, I’m resolving to work on relationships. Romantic relationships, that is. I’m 43, single, never been married. I want to change that. I want to create space so I can let in an amazing man and build an even more abundant, joyful life together. So instead of making a resolution to lose five pounds or work out more or spend less or do this or not do that, I’m working to be open and vulnerable. I’m resolving to let love in, to love myself, to let myself be loved. I think that resolution sort of covers it all.

Why do I blog?

I’m excited to have been asked to join the Blogversation, an online conversation with insightful, talented writers, initiated and moderated by Colleen Newvine Tebeau, a force of nature, writer, and fellow Michigander. I secretly aspire to be like her when I grow up.

So here’s the deal. Each week, Colleen or another blogger will pose a question to the group and we’ll all jump into the conversational mix. This week, Colleen kicks things off by asking, “How and why did you become a blogger?”

I wish I had some great story that involved inspiration or an epiphany or some sort of movie moment. The truth is that I started blogging as a business strategy.

I may have started blogging out of a need to market myself, but I’ve continued to do it for more personal, complicated, varied reasons. I initially called my blog Prairie Tales, to complement my book, The Prairie Girl’s Guide to Life. I wanted to discuss the inspiration behind my books, my struggles of being a farm girl turned city slicker, and whatever blew my skirt up.

And let’s face it. I wanted to show off. My writing and my wit, to be exact. But something wonderful happened along the way. I may have already had a voice, but blogging honed it. I discovered things about myself. I was able to showcase not only myself, but the amazing things that my friends and family were up to. And best of all, I tapped into a community, created a whole new circle in the Venn diagram of my life. I am educated, entertained, and inspired by a whole passel of like-minded folks. I started another blog, a snarky piece of work called Things I Want to Punch in the Face, for things that chap my hide on a daily basis, and found more of my peeps. I am tickled beyond belief by the comments from my punchy readers, and the immediacy of the feedback is something I could never get from my books or magazine articles. I earn no money from these blogs, but they feed me in other ways.

I started to blog for my business, but I continue to blog because it feeds my spirit.

How and why did YOU become a blogger?