I Need My Blog To Be Different, Pt. 1

Yo yo yiggity yo!  I am back from my 6 wk. self-imposed blogging hiatus of sorts.  If I hadn’t taken that time I was going to implode with ALL the frustrations.  So.  How did it go?

Let’s just say that first week was flipping ridick.  I had NO idea how addicted I was.  Once I deleted the Instagram, Twitter & FB apps from my phone I did better but could oft be found sneaking around stealing others’ devices to get my fix.  However, I put my proverbial foot down on blog posting until that 6 wk. mark.  I knew it was too important.

In the last couple of years I’ve said goodbye to 2 (great) jobs and 2 (lovely) people who were not good for me. I’ve learned this: sometimes it’s amazingly healthy to let go of something that may be a bit off kilter even it’s something (or someone) good -even lovely- and declare “HEY, REMEMBER I DON’T FREAKING NEED YOU TO SURVIVE.”  And then you survive, maybe you even thrive.  In these last 6 weeks I’ve DECLARED MY FREEDOM.  I struggled with facebook, at one point finally giving in all together but in all other ways I found amazing gifts to be unwrapped.

I gave myself the gift of time to think, pray, read, journal and reflect on this very uncertain phase of life.   About two weeks in, something beautiful happened…

I found myself feverishly opening up my Evernote app several times a week to scribble down notes for things I wanted to write and edit later.  Thankfully, it was clear that my writing bug is alive and well.  The medium of blogging nor the immaturity of the blogosphere is allowed to have the type of power over me it has.

With the firm desire that I want to keep writing -no matter the format- a few other revelations also became clear…

I need my blog to be different.

I need to dramatically scale back my mindset toward my blog.

I need to take my blog LESS seriously.

I need freedom to write anything niche-based or not.

I need to forgo a posting schedule because it made me feel guilty and a waste of precious earth space.

I need to abandon the idea of business-to-blog.  My blog is not a business.  My blog IS A HOBBY.  My blog does not make me a writer.  Writing makes me a writer.  My blog is a lovely, lovely, lovely hobby.

I need to be happy to bring in ZERO dollars each month in ad revenue and ecstatic if I bring in enough to take my kids to the movies with popcorn aplenty.

I need to make my blog a NO COMPARISON ZONE.  I will not blog shame my own blog nor my own writing.  It’s my little space and it doesn’t deserve to be shamed, especially by me.

I need my blog to be less fussy.  Screw Pinable pictures.  Sometimes.  Every now and then, pinnable image-making is the MOST FUN.

I need my blog to be a place where I am vulnerable, kind and hope filled.

I need to feel no guilt in picture sharing, celeb talking, app celebrating, fluff filled posts. Because what-on-earth-why-not-share-what-I-wanna?

I need to screw the idea of platform building for now.  For now.  Distraction.

I need to not pretend to be a theologian or even the pretense of being one.  I’m never gonna be RHE -bless her smart heart- but isn’t it fabulous that no one is asking me to?

I need to NEVA EVA EVA EVEEEEEEER do product reviews because they ROB my energy for blogging…and living.

I need to nurture a space where a few souls find solace, laughs and challenges from me.  I’m still a Leader by spiritual gifting.  May I never inch away from my leadership or writerly calling because I’ve hit some life issues & bloggy snags along the way.

And the NUMBER ONE revelation I’ve had…

…I’ll share tomorrow in part 2.

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On the technical end, as you can see I re-branded from Gabbing with Grace to simply, GraceBiskie.com.  I changed my tagline to a reference from Psalms 107:2 to reflect the weight and credence to tell my God-woven redemption stories.  In a month, I’m dropping my Gabbing with Grace Facebook page, so please do hop on over and “like” my new Facebook page.  And of course, you can find me irregularly tweeting & consistently retweeting on Twitter.  If you prefer to feed your Feedly or other reader you can do that here or you can follow along -in my preference- by subscribing by email.  Either way, I’m here for you with all the options.