The following post is also featured today on the Fresh Take blog:
Today we’re happy to highlight a fellow blogger, Veronica Johnson. We asked her why she blogs and what it means to her. This is her response:
As a wife and a mother, I find that it’s easy to get lost in the details. But all that really matters are the basics. To me, the most basic (and therefore the most important) thing is family.
A lot of mothers who blog try to avoid or even get offended by the term “mommy blogger.” I have no problem with it. I am a mother first, and I am also a blogger. Call me whatever you’d like. It doesn’t change who I am.
My husband teases me about the imaginary blogging friends that live in my computer. He plays fantasy football so I tease him about his imaginary football team, and I figure we’re even. Sometimes when I tell people that I blog, their eyes glaze over because they just don’t get it. Other times, I will get a patronizing smile because they think I’m wasting my time. But when I meet a fellow “believer,” there’s an instant connection. They understand!
If you ask any mom blogger why she does what she does, you’ll get a wide variety of answers. Blogging is good for so many reasons. Here are a few:
It makes me think.
Writing forces me to become a better communicator and encourages me to think outside the box. It makes me stretch and grow. It also helps me stay connected with people I love, which reminds me that I am a part of something bigger than myself.
It keeps me sane.
Some days I read blogs or write because my head might explode if I don’t. Between the housework, the homework, the lessons, and the practices, I barely have time to breathe. Sitting down for a moment to gather my thoughts and read something uplifting gives me the courage to face the rest of my day.
It connects me to my family.
Our day-to-day lives may seem blah to us because we are so deep in the middle of it that we often miss the beauty or the humor of the moments. My children are changing and growing right before my eyes. If I blink, I could miss it. The photos and blog posts about the most ordinary parts of our day are things I love to go back and read. It keeps me grounded and reminds me that sometimes I just need to go back to the basics. There is beauty in the basics.
It connects me with friends.
I’ve made many close friends through blogging, “cyber buddies” who became “in real life” friends. I also have old friends who don’t live nearby. I love that they can keep up with our family by reading and commenting on my blog.
It is a record for posterity.
One of my favorite quotes is from the movie The Princess Bride. The king's evil men are torturing Wesley and they ask him to share what he is experiencing. They warn, “And remember. . . . It’s for posterity, so be honest.” The times that I don’t want to write are the times when I need to the most. The ups and downs of life can teach us so much. Both in the way we handle it and in the things we learn from it. Blogging allows me to tell my story. It’s a wonderful way to document day-to-day life and the events that are shaping our family. Blogging creates a record, both in words and pictures, of what we do every day. Something that was certainly not funny when we were in the middle of it can be hilarious in hindsight. In a moment of upheaval or calamity, I think to myself, “someday I’ll be able to laugh at this”—and usually I can.
Veronica Johnson has been married for 18 years to “an insightful, hilarious, hardworking man.” They are the parents of five great kids.
You can find Veronica on twitter (@SavvyVeronica), on her personal blog Welcome To My Chaos, and also at Local Community Hot Spots.
