Thursday, December 6, 2007

Anniversary of new blogs

It was a little less than a year ago that I started this and my other three blogs. Here are my first entries in January 2007.

You see, I had a little blog that was supposed to be about my homeschooling adventures. I wrote funny little blurbs in it about the places we went and posted pictures from our days. But I had more to my life than just homeschooling of course, and so I would slip in little things about wanting to color my hair pink, my feelings about marriage, equality in homemaking, extended and tandem breastfeeding, and most radically, my thoughts on birth, most specifically, how bad hospital birth can be and how urgent of a problem the state of maternity care in this country truly was.

These posts were not being super well received, and I was feeling alot of silent frustration in my life. My handful of friends already knew I had a baby at home, and kinda knew that my c-sections hurt me. My handful of family, well, they have some strong opinions about the things I believe in, and there was a strong urging to write about the trips to the library and perhaps lay off the other stuff.

Trouble was, the "other stuff" was the stuff that I desperately needed and wanted to explore. My husband had heard it all, and was 100% on board with me. But I needed so much more. I needed to preach on, and on, (and on) and discuss and vent and work through and I got the idea to make another blog that was just about birth stuff. But then, where could I write about my guitar and my hair and where would I write about being a fulltime homemaker and where do I put recipes or bitch about the price of groceries, etc? Thus the 4 blogs were born.
Homeschool Is Love
Breast and Belly
Hearth and Home
Everything Joy

This was a fun thing that I did for months without too many hits beyond my friends, but I didn't care. I knew someday I would get some kind of good break and once I figured out that all the comments I was leaving all over the blogosphere had a lit-up-linky thing to me and my blogs, the comments came in, slowly. Erratically. But then, SageFemme not only wrote on my blog but did a whole post about something I wrote, and BAM! I was getting comments, steady, everytime I wrote! I told myself I wouldn't change a thing, but I did catch notice of the very wonderful "ABC check" button, which helped this manic Mama to realize just how many typos can come when you are a hyper passionate writer-girl with a toddler on your lap. Embarrassing. Whatever.

Now the blogs are everything to me. Each person that writes just humbles me and blows me away and drives me on to write more.

This October, I started 2 new jobs which have me gone from 5:30 pm to 12:30 am Monday Wednesday and Friday nights, and all day Saturday. Wow. When do I write now? It has been hard to find the time. For example, it is 12:30 pm right now and the kids are watching TV, we haven't had lunch, I am not dressed...I know it is all "ok" but it is not my number one ideal way to run things.

I have lots and lots and lots more to say as always and I hope that my slowing down does not lose me any readers. Thanks to everyone for participating, I never ever wanted my blog to be a one-sided soapbox type of deal, so for me, the posts that get the (unbelievable) 20+ comments are always the best ones, to see all these different people sounding off of each other and adding and discussing is really what I care most about.

Thank you for being a big part of 2007 being a life changing time for me. i love you all so much.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you started your blogs. It has enhanced my passion for safe and empowering birth and given me insight into situations I know nothing about. More than once I have read through this blog with tears streaming. Thanks Joy.

Rixa said...

Joy,
I love re-reading your earlier blog posts. It's so seductive to sit and read and read and read when I really should be writing my dissertation!

Stacey said...

Joy, I check your 4 blogs at least once a day. I LOVE them. I may not comment, but I sure do read!

Angi said...

I love to come and see what's new on your blogs. They always make me think -or laugh. (I didn't comment on your other blog but I loved the peeping tomgirl post. I totally relate!)

Maiasaura said...

happy anniversary, joy! i like the new art at the top, too.

Kelley said...

Joy,
You are awesome! I love all of your blogs. Sometimes I think my comments won't add much to the conversation, but I add them anyway. You are an inspiration, and I count myself lucky to have you for a friend, on the Internet and in real life. :)

Keep it up, seriously. I can be patient through the time lapses. I'm experiencing them, too. :)

CNH said...

And thanks for coming to my little blog and commenting, or I wouldn't have found you! I've laid off my birth diatribes for awhile because I was feeling really angry and jaded. I'm planning to start working for real on the MW thing in about 18 months so I'll probably juggle FOUR blogs then! LOL! Right now, it's just Crunchy Mama and the two kids blogs. Plus 8 million boards and all the regular email and stuff. I spend too much time on this computer! When I start catching that's going to have to stop. ;)

I'm glad you're out here talking about things that matter and I linked you in my blog roll a long time ago so others can find you! :)

sneakmastergeneral said...

I just read this entire thing and all of I've missed since September...God, has it been that long? Congrats on the blogiversary!