The Good and Bad of Blogging

When I started this blog a few months ago I  had a simple purpose. I wanted to promote my handmade shop and share handmade projects with the hope of being a resource to others who have the same passion to create.

This summer I had a few different women communicate that reading my blog made them feel bad about their lives because I was painting an unrealistic picture of mine. I hated hearing that. I hated that my simple self-focused purpose in blogging ended up causing women I care about to struggle.  But more than that I hated that I had such a self focused purpose for blogging in the first place.

After those conversations I took some time away to wrestle with my purpose in blogging. I ended up wrestling with a tension I have been calling, “the good and bad of blogging”.

I am just introducing myself to the blogging community, but I have already seen how blogging can be an incredible means to community and shared life. It provides a way  to connect with like-minded women I may never meet in real life but I find a kindred spirit with online. Blogging can be a means for women to find their voice, share their story, and have an influence.

Relationships made online will never replace my face-to-face relationships, but they do provide an opportunity for life change. I find women who are living with a similar passion.  By staying connected, I can learn with them, be challenged by them, walk through struggles with them, and grow with them. I am so inspired by “story” and when I invite others into my story, it changes me.

At the same time, I have seen and experienced how blogging can become a breeding grounds for comparison and a way to amplify discontentment. It’s the curse.  It started back when I first noticed her hair was straight and mine was curly, her eyes were brown and mine were blue – the constant temptation to want what isn’t mine. There is no easy way to overcome this temptation, and blogging and social media will probably always amplify it.  I get it. I struggle to compare.  And I long for the things this world has to offer even though I know they are empty.

 These observations might be obvious, but they have helped me define why I want to continue my journey with blogging. I know there are so many women who are far more beautiful, exciting, intelligent, creative and talented than me. I might not have a whole lot more to add to the voices already out there, but I can’t let that keep me from entering in. I’m taking the good with the bad, offering my heart, and sharing my story.