Why I blog

My last entry was so... emo.  I sincerely appreciate the support from everyone; many who are beautiful strong moms who may not be going through the same thing but know exactly how I feel.

 

I stayed up past 5am being depressed, then slept until noon.  Ryan actually woke up before me, got a haircut, ran errands, bought breakfast, and now he's doing laundry!  And he's the one who's supposed to be on vacay.

Orbie's mini donuts.  Yum.  Donuts are meant to cheer people up in the morning.  Reminds me of Pier 39.  Thanks, Ryan!

One thing that has helped with the mommy blues (other than mini donuts) has been blogging.  I still have that little voice inside my head that thinks I'm super cheesy for blogging, but I'm serious when I say it has been my saving grace.

Haters be like, "You have a blog?  As if you are a somebody!!" LOL.  Image from bicoastalbitchin.com

Blogging is basically journaling but cooler and everyone and their mom can read it.  I enjoy reading other blogs and love giving credit where it's due, especially since I am inspired by many writers like Maud Purcell who talks about the following benefits of journaling on Psych Central:

• Clarify your thoughts and feelings. Do you ever seem all jumbled up inside, unsure of what you want or feel? Taking a few minutes to jot down your thoughts and emotions will quickly get you in touch with your internal world.
• Know yourself better. By writing routinely you will get to know what makes you feel happy and confident. You will also become clear about situations and people who are toxic for you — important information for your emotional well-being.
• Reduce stress. Writing about anger, sadness and other painful emotions helps to release the intensity of these feelings. By doing so you will feel calmer and better able to stay in the present.
• Solve problems more effectively. Typically we problem solve from a left-brained, analytical perspective. But sometimes the answer can only be found by engaging right-brained creativity and intuition. Writing unlocks these other capabilities, and affords the opportunity for unexpected solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems. 

What I didn't expect from blogging was the sense of community and support I get from my readers daily.  I didn't realize that by simply sharing my remixes that people would relate and be entertained or inspired.  

My remixes are seriously ordinary.  Just like any broke down twenty something year old, I was just doing what I had to do to stay afloat, and when I changed my perspective I realized I was doing nothing more than making changes wherever I could with what I had.  It's simple enough to understand, not as simple to apply.  

Courage to change what I can.  What I wear around my neck everyday.  We all need reminders.

When I challenged myself to have a blog, all of sudden I felt the urge to put more effort at whatever it was I was doing, took on more projects, took better pictures (lots of room for improvement there), started taking better care of myself, thought deeper about where I've been, the ups and the downs, and can honestly say, wow, I'm kind of alright, haha!  I'm actually someone I wanted to be growing up. Yes, journaling and blogging does that  to you. 

We all have friends who post a hundred meaningless status updates a day.  I found myself doing that, posting about diy projects and my kid.  By blogging I can reach out to community of people who actually love the same things I do.  People ask me from time to time if I plan on blogging for money, which A LOT of people do.  I've gotten a few offers to advertise people's businesses, but for now I don't see myself pursuing promos and things like that.  Maybe in the future when I have more time to focus on aesthetics and stuff.  There are so many amazing blogs out there that inspire me, but for now I blog for the benefits of journaling.

Other reasons I blog?  It's fun (!), cheers me up (or gets me down, depends on what I'm writing about.  Either way, I'm in touch with my feelings haha), keeps me engaged, encourages creativity, gives me permission to laugh at myself and try new things.  I get a kick out of what people openly share; their quirks, motivational life experiences, travels, interests... even makeup and fashion.  I'm no guru, but it keeps me young.

Stay tuned for my "Turning Japanese in Germany... I really think so" entry :)

Happy blogging and, of course, remixing!