Tag: Blogging

Why do you blog?

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A college friend posted this question on Facebook today, asking her blogger friends a really loaded question: why they began blogging.

The answers ranged from keeping in touch with family, work-related reasons, weight loss support, to share steals and deals, to cope with dramatic life changes … to as simple as just wanting to document one’s life (or to chronicle their children’s lives).

While many (all?) of those might fit why I blog now, this is how I answered: Blogotherapy and advocacy. Now 6 years later the focus has shifted, but I remain an advocate in my space.

Continue reading “Why do you blog?” →

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start, stop, start, stop

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Nearly every night after the kids are in bed now I’ve attempted to open my laptop — the very same laptop I spend nine hours a day working on — and tried to hunker down and write: observations, summaries of cool stuff I have seen or read related to fitness, motherhood, pregnancy, body image ….anything to keep my blog a living, breathing ecosystem of sorts.

Every night I start blogging … and then I stop. Continue reading “start, stop, start, stop” →

Are Comments Dead?

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One of my favorite bloggers, Mara, wrote a great post yesterday expressing some frustration she’s feeling as a blogger lately. She feels like she is writing into the black abyss — or posting for the sake of posting — and I can definitely relate to both of those sentiments, especially the first one (and, a couple years ago, could have better related to the second one).

While my readership has remained steady and I produce content 3-5 times a week, comments have been next to none the past few months … and I think I know what is behind this shift. Continue reading “Are Comments Dead?” →

Fresh Ink: FitPregnancy

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Blogging has led me to some incredible opportunities … and another one came to fruition today.

A couple months back, FitPregnancy asked its Facebook fans if anyone was willing to share their story of having battled an eating disorder or disordered eating issues prior to pregnancy; to discuss how they handled pregnancy with such a history. Continue reading “Fresh Ink: FitPregnancy” →

Write What You Know

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That’s what they always say, right? “Write what you know.”

Once again, I’m at a blogging identity crisis. And instead of finding my niche, I’ve been writing about everything and anything … I’m a jack of all trades and a master of none.

If I want to take my blog to the next level — a professional one — I’m going to need to really have a niche. And right now, I don’t. Well, that’s not exactly true. Continue reading “Write What You Know” →

Blocked

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I’m perched in a cozy chair on the deck staring out at the creek, dressed in three layers and comfortably tapping away at my keyboard while the sun dips behind the trees. The only sounds I hear are Rocco’s heavy breathing at my feet and the hum of lawnmowers in the distance. Fall is definitely in the air here in Michigan and I couldn’t be happier about it.

I have a million blog posts in my head, but for the first time in a long time am suffering from genuine writer’s block. I have things I want to share, say … but I just can’t seem to make sense of them. I can’t put pen to paper; I can’t string sentences together … I feel paralyzed. Continue reading “Blocked” →

What’s My Boilerplate? My Elevator Speech?

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In public relations (PR)– the field in which I work — a boilerplate is the standard paragraph of text found at the bottom of every news release that offers up key information about your company. You might consider it a long-winded version of an “elevator speech.”

While I have no trouble telling people about my job in ten words — “I’m the public relations manager at a top digital agency” — I found myself in a pickle this weekend at a PR conference with respect to my blog.

You see, when I began blogging, in spite of laying it all out there for anyone who could Google “disordered eater” (I ranked #1 and #2 for forever; my old blog domain is now #3) I was deeply ashamed of the topic. Continue reading “What’s My Boilerplate? My Elevator Speech?” →

Open Letter to the Blogosphere: Blogger “Responsibility”

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Note: this post has nothing to do with my blog or you, my readers … but is rather a reaction to an observation I made in the blogosphere.

This week, one of the most well-known female bloggers, Heather Armstrong of dooce.com fame, announced she and her husband Jon were in the midst of a trial separation.

I’d heard of her, but never really read her blog — until today. Her announcement post is absolutely gut-wrenching, to say the least — especially the part where she expresses a moment that suicide crossed her mind … and though doesn’t go into any details about why the couple is splitting, it’s obvious she is pained about the decision but knows it must be done. Continue reading “Open Letter to the Blogosphere: Blogger “Responsibility”” →

My Therapy

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Though I was an early talker (are you surprised?!) and still love to talk, writing has always been the most therapeutic form of self-help for me.

I began journaling in fifth grade, chronicling nearly every day of my life — and I haven’t stopped since.

Traveling with me from my childhood bedroom in Vernon, NJ …  to my dorm room at American University in our nation’s capital … to my first apartment (and subsequent apartments!) … to my first home have been the two dozen or so spiral-bound notebooks filled to the brim with words and experiences, etched forever in varying handwriting styles and a wide array of ink colors.

I’ve been both lovingly teased for my “chronicles” and admired for my commitment to journaling … but I don’t do it for laughs or praises; I do it because it’s what works for me — and because I love the idea of a living, breathing biography … Continue reading “My Therapy” →