All That Is Sweet

 Have you tried Salted Caramels before?  They are aMAYzing.

I was reading some "blog tips" recently and the one that struck me the most was "Your blog is not your best friend.  Don't act like it is.  Don't complain or be negative or vent because after awhile people won't want to read you.  People come to blogs for inspiration and not a sob story."

And you know what?  I kinda agree for the most part.  Did you think I wouldn't?  But it's true.  I go to blogs that inspire me to be better.  That lift me up and not down.  I certainly don't want to pull up a chair to a soap box consistently.  On the other hand, I absolutely appreciate real honesty and the feeling that the people behind blogs ARE real.  So the fact that there is a bad day or evident exhaustion or some complaints about things don't bother me too much.  And I guess that is why I try to be real on here.  So that I am not inaccessible, you know?

But here's the delio.  The advice was right...a blog is NOT your best friend. It's not your journal that you write to in complete frustration. It's not your girlfriend that you call to spill all woes. We're not in this for sympathy or condolences or justification.  We're all in this blog world to be happy, I think.  To show the joy in life out of what could be normally thought mediocre or mundane. To inspire, to lift, to feel relief and peace in our comfy socks and laptop.  Not all blogs are like that and so I choose what I read carefully, but for me, those are the blogs I want to read.  And that is how I want to be read.

I was telling Rowdy the other day that I wanted to quit my blog.  It had become a burden instead of a place of retreat.  He told me not to and asked why I wanted to quit?  I said that it was supposed to be my journal of our life and the kids and I just don't have time and it wasn't turning out how I thought it should and he stopped me quick and said, "That isn't what you told me it was about.  You said it was a place where you could express your creativity and be yourself.  Our family is part of that, but that isn't why you blog.  You blog to be you."

That guy is not only cute, he's a smarty-pants. 

So!  I have decided that I am happy with my blog and I think I will keep at it.  I don't know how long I will continue it or ultimately how it turns out, but that is life, no? It's back to the basics and THIS is what my blog will continue to be...  

Sweet...with a little bit of Salty mixed in there, too.