Mama Bean will live to blog another day

My first blog was on diaryland. (That link will not take you to said blog, which I wish would just disappear, but remains a shadow of its former glory (haha) on dland's servers in perpetuity.) (Brackets within brackets, I have a problem.) Several close friends also had diaryland blogs, and we all gave each other guestbook pats on the back. When I moved to the US for Chiropractic college, I figured this would be a good way to keep in touch with friends, so I didn't give a lot of thought to the rest of the blogging community, or attracting "strangers" to read my blog. Unfortunately, I never really fell into a regular posting rhythm. I'd think of things to write about, and compose lovely entries in my head, but forget the particular turn of phrase or whatever by the time I sat at the computer, so it would never get written. Only Papa Bean really got the hang of regular blogging. Most of those dland sites are now defunct.

Papa Bean was the first to switch the Blogger. My first blogspot was titled "Love Covers a Multitude of Sins" which is from 1 Peter 4:18: Above all, love each deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. It is one of my favourite bible verses, and a guiding life principle for how to treat, y'know, humanity. I had so many good intentions to pave the road to that blog's hell. Thankfully, it did document some of my thought processes while struggling with American politics, and American Christians. But again, posting was never a priority, and the blog languished.

My second blogspot was created after graduating from Chiropractic college, returning to Cowtown, and getting married. I hadn't updated my other site in ages, I don't know why I suddenly thought I could commit to a new blog and really make something of it. This blog was titled "Deus Ex Maoir Quam Es" which is latin for God is Bigger Than This. It is another guiding life principle of mine, and if I weren't uber-scared of needles, I'd get a tattoo of it. (There were other blogs; a short-lived wedding blog, a joint blog with Papa Bean when we moved that we never update, an obsolete page for my graduating class from Chiropractic college. They didn't last.)

Despite the faith-based underpinnings of their titles, neither of these blogs focused on religious or theological content. Nor were they a traditional "web-log" account of my daily activities. I just shared thoughts and stories I needed to process in a written way, and which I thought my readers (i.e. friends, family) might enjoy. By the time Deus Ex came along, facebook was already a regular part of most people's lives, and the need for that sort of log-type posting and picture-sharing was supplanted by status updates, tweets, and flickr or fbook albums. Blogs had long morphed into the niched and branded self-publishing phenomenon they are today. And new programming allowed for greater community: better comment management, better forum creation, better everything. Praise the Lord for Wordpress, right?

I read mom-blogs for years before I became a mother. It's a habit I picked up from Papa Bean, who has remained consistent and involved in the blogging community. I love being part of this community, and have crept out of the lurking shadows, to comment and engage. I love writing within this community, even though it's not all mama-ness all the time on here (and even when it feels like it's all been said before by some other blog.) I told myself this blog would be different, and I would post regularly or So Help Me Blog.

My primary strategy for that is the weekly themed posts: TMI Tuesdays and Friday Link Love. Even just completing these entries each week has me posting about, oh, a kazillion times more often than all my other blogs combined. Another useful strategy of sorts is just the endless entertainment and learning Bean provides; I am inspired by multiple stories or issues a day. My problem is wanting every post to be perfect or meaningful or just somehow important. I want each entry to be crafted; to tell a story; to have a beginning, middle and end; an introduction, supporting paragraphs and conclusion. I fall into writing essays, when I'm really just writing a blog. Basically, I need to get over myself. (Basically, I need to stop italicizing everything. I have a problem.)

It's a journey. Get it? I'm on a road...

So, it's a process, and I'm getting more comfortable with writing lightly and briefly. I also plan to blog more in direct response to the mom-blogging community, because I find the communication within this group so valuable and fun. It's been a kicking good time so far, and I won't be running out of steam any time soon, as far as I can tell.