Connect by Blogging

categories: Connection, Learning, Writing

Welcome to Day 21 of 31 Days of Connection! Missed any of the posts? Stop by Day 1 for all the links.

Connect by Blogging

Sharing your words through blogging is a bit like writing a story or book, but it’s more interactive. You’re still putting your words out there and hoping that somebody will connect with your words, your story, your worldview, your life. The evidence of that connection happens through blog traffic, comments, social media interaction, emails, and discussing posts in person. Sometimes you connect with your readers and sometimes with fellow bloggers.

I’ve been blogging on and off since 2008, if you can believe that! My main blog through many of those years (I started additional blogs here and there as well as contributed to a couple of group blogs) was Stop and Smell the Chocolates. Because there were fewer blogs back then and SEO wasn’t a concern and blogs were simpler, people had more time to actually read and comment on blogs. There was time to link up to weekly blog parties and browse blog directories looking for new reads. Did I connect through my blogging? YES – so many wonderful connections and dear friends!

blogging

I wrote a post once on the Blessings of Blogging and listed the first 3 blessings off the top of my head, which were these:

~ My blog has provided me with a creative outlet.
~ Blogging has given me a sense of community.
~ I have made new friends through blogging.

You’ll notice that 2 of those 3 are absolutely about connecting – making new friends and a sense of community. The ability to connect may seem harder in these days when blogging involves so much more effort in order to be found and to be valued. That is partly true – though the solution is to blog smarter, not harder. But really, you’re seeing less of the evidence of people connecting and that makes it harder to know that there are people who need your words and are touched by what you have to share. The relationships may take more time and effort, but don’t shy away from putting your words out there and doing what you can to make sure that they are found – your voice is important and you will connect eventually.

If you have been considering starting a blog, I say do it! There are many great resources to help you with blogging, but I do recommend Debi Stangeland and Amy Lynn Andrews. And if you are struggling with blogging and need a little push to get going again, you might try reading some of the posts in my Encouraging Bloggers series on my old blog.

Day 21 Daily Connection Challenge:
If you have a blog, write a post! Write something that you’ve been wanting to share from the heart or something that you’re passionate about. Share the post as many ways as possible so it can be found and see who connects with you. If you don’t have a blog, but are thinking of starting one, do some research and list out the steps you need to take. Come up with a name and search to make sure there are no big blogs or websites already branded with the name. If you don’t have a blog and are not interested in starting one, take some time to read blog posts from your favorite writers or find an interesting post that has been shared on Facebook. If you feel a connection with that blogger’s words, let them know through comments or email.

Thank you for joining me for Day 21 of 31 Days of Connection! Do you have a blog? Or have you been thinking about starting one? Let me know in the comments!

09
May
2016

The Struggle of Writing

categories: Learning, Writing

I have this dilemma. I feel compelled to write and if I go too long without writing anything, I feel like words start to build up inside and could explode at any time. But I find writing extremely difficult and start avoiding it because it it such hard work. And writing on a blog has its own challenges. Am I the only one that deals with the struggle of writing?

The Struggle of Writing

Part of the struggle of writing for me is that the words are there in my mind, as I’m often mentally writing blog posts or parts of books. But because I’ve thought it through in my mind, maybe even more than once, I find the thought of actually trying to write out the words exhausting. It feels like I already wrote the words and why would I want to do it all over again? Or I find that I had the subject and the thoughts in my mind, but I cannot get it all to come out the way I want it or in a way that makes sense when I try to write it all out.

The temptation is to walk away and stop trying to write. But whenever I do that, it’s not long before I get the nagging feeling that I am supposed to be a writer. But it turns out that to be a writer, you have to actually, um…write. So back to it I go. And I struggle again and hop over to my Facebook tab or to Google to look up that thing I was wondering about earlier today. Anything but the struggle of writing!

Find a Way to Write

I know a lot of you are writers – even the ones that think they aren’t. You don’t need to have written a book to be a writer. I think we’re all writers in one way or another because we use our words to tell the stories of our lives. Even our Facebook statuses tell a story. As I said in another post about writing:

Aren’t we all writers, really? We write the story of our lives each day through our thoughts, words and actions.

Since you are indeed a writer, you need to find a way to write that works for you. If that means Facebook statuses and emails and letters to friends, then work on creating your best communications. If that means journaling about your life, then try to do it on a regular basis and in a way that could be read by your child someday when you’re gone. If your writing is on a blog, plan out your posts and write and rewrite them – quality is more important than quantity. If you are writing a book, keep plugging away every day until it’s a habit and keeps moving your creation a little closer to complete.

There are many resources online to help with the struggle of writing. There are writing prompts to get your creative juices flowing. There are Writers groups to join on Facebook and LinkedIn. There are bloggers offering encouragement and tips. One of my favorite writers who offers inspiration is Jeff Goins. Jeff says that writing has become much easier for him now and explains how it happened because of a little thing called “practice”:

Because I’ve started approaching writing like I do running. I get up every day, no matter what, and I do it. I try not to think about it too much or listen to my own doubts.

Obviously this is what I need to do – practice often – and it will get better. But of course when you struggle with writing, it’s that much harder to get yourself to do it. But I do plan to work on it! Join me and work on your own writing – no matter what kind of writing you do.

Do you struggle with writing? What helps encourage or motivate you? If you don’t struggle, what tips can you share with the rest of us? Thanks for sticking around while I work on writing here more often! {You can subscribe here so you get my posts emailed whenever I do publish!}

17
Mar
2016

From Lisa Marie – What It’s All About

categories: Sharing

You have no idea how badly I wanted to title this “What It Is” instead of “What It’s All About” but if you saw that without hearing me say it, you would think I messed up the title rather than saying it like “What it IS, yo” [ I’m about 5% Homegirl inside and it gets out from time to time].

How I Got Here

I’m not new to blogging. I started back in 2008. Yes, that’s the equivalent of horse-and-buggy days in blog time. I learned a lot over the years and have been very blessed by my experiences. From Lisa Marie has actually been around since 2014, but I obviously didn’t have much time to devote to it. I originally started it to have a new place to write where I didn’t feel tied down or obligated to post recipes like on my other blog. There was no vision in place other than me writing all about whatever I wanted. It was nice in theory, but a lack of vision and planning can end up meaning that nothing gets accomplished. And finally, an upcoming job change to doing something more left brain apparently opened up some room for creative thought on the right side and after reading a couple of posts about blogging, I was suddenly inspired to restart this blog and with some sort of vision and plan in place.

What It’s All About

Above all, I want my blog to represent me – a down-to-earth, slightly humorous, ordinary, imperfect mom – somebody that I hope you feel connected to. There are subjects that I have knowledge of and that I want to share about and I think I have narrowed those down and found a common thread that connects them. Here are some of the subjects that I plan to share about:

[Real] Family Life
- Not that I am any kind of expert on family life, but I do like the opportunity to start the conversation around issues that come up in marriage or with raising children (my son is a teenager). Or I like to just share the joys that we all get to experience in our families, looking at the bright side together and finding a way to laugh through it all.
Health/Fitness Victories and Struggles
- Over the years, I’ve tried many a plan for health and fitness and enjoy having a group to chat with about what’s working, what isn’t, and sharing new ideas as well as recipes from time to time. For example, my No Exercising At All “plan” doesn’t seem to be making me healthier, so we’ll need to work on that. 😉
Occasional Food Posts
- Well I like food. And it just so happens that I like yummy food. So I anticipate wanting to share some recipes or food ideas with you occasionally. But be warned – I don’t take professional or even well-lit pics, which is why I can never be a food blogger.
Digital Marketing Tips
- After many years of being a mostly stay-at-home mom, I went back into the workforce full time and worked for a digital marketing company. Oh yes, I learned a ton! I’d love to be able to share tips with fellow bloggers and small-business peeps to help you out.
Blogging and Writing
- I have thoughts on writing, but don’t always follow through well. I want to get into blogging consistently and if I can share ideas along the way, I will. I also hope to get going on writing a book soonish, so will be wanting to have discussions about that and share resources.
Leadership & Customer Service
- These are a couple of subjects that I’m passionate about in the working world, but also apply to life in general. I have a lot of years of work experience in my background, including management, and hope to share my thoughts on what makes for good employers, employees, business-owners, and more.

At first, these subjects seem a bit disconnected. But there are a couple of common threads. One is that they all represent parts of me and my experiences. C’mon, isn’t that enough? Okay, well there is another common thread. Each of these parts of our “real” offline world can be enhanced by how we participate in and make use of what we find in our online world. I can go through that list and tell you how something online helped or blessed me to make things better in “real” life. [Hello…Pinterest?] There’s a danger of becoming overwhelmed or obsessed with online life, but by navigating through it well, we can use the best ideas in the most efficient way and put the focus back on living an awesome offline life.

As you can tell by the list of subjects, post topics will vary widely. I hope you can all find topics that interest you and that you can connect with. Please do share any thoughts or feedback. I’m here and listening! Here are some of the upcoming blog post topics for the near future:

My Whole 30 diet experience
A series on LinkedIn – how to use it & why you need to, best practices & tips
Allowance for kids – different thoughts and practices
Work Life Balance
You Really are a Writer
Leading by example
Favorite salad recipe links

I hope this has given you a sense of where I’m headed with this blog and my “restart” of it. You should know that it can always evolve because I am constantly changing and my blog reflects me. Also, I haven’t had much time in the past couple of years to read other blogs, but want to get back into that, too. If you have a blog, feel free to comment here and give the name and what it’s all about so we can have a visit!

Thanks for being here. I’m so looking forward to sharing more with you!