Wednesday, April 17, 2013

My Blog Baby

I have four lovely daughters, spanning the ages of nearly three to almost 18 years old.  Each and every one of them fills me up, gives my life meaning and teaches me every bit as much as I like to think I teach them.  In my eyes, they're quite amazing.  I also have another baby.  You may think it's odd, but in a way it's true.  You can track its growth and development within these electronic pages you're reading now.  Perhaps the title has given it away...

In 2005, my blog baby was born.  It began as an online journal of rambling thoughts and memories in the making.  It was Lisa's Blog, nothing more; nothing less.  Toward the end of 2006, I revamped, refocused and renamed what is now "Getting it Write for You, a blog of encouragement, learning and inspiration for writers of all genres." 
In 2007, I had a wonderfully productive year.  I posted regularly, made lots of writing friends (many of whom I still hold near and dear to my heart), and I had a great little freelance business going.  I learned so much about marketing, how useful having writing skills is in the world of business, and what I was actually capable of as a writer.  Great stuff!

The problem is, I don't write much here anymore.  There are plenty of reasons why, or excuses as some would say.  One of the main being that because much like my blog, my life has changed over the years too.  When I began in 2005, I only had two children.  It was a very focused and inspired time of my life.  I was freelancing regularly and had enough work to bring in a modest little income at part-time hours.  Many of the jobs I acquired were a direct result of networking and the content I wrote here.


When I found out I was pregnant with our third child, Amara I chose to slow things down.  Since she was going to be our last baby (ha ha), I really wanted to enjoy her to the fullest extent.  Babies don't keep, you know, so I thought this quite important.  About 18 months after her birth we learned Giana was on the way!  Blogging and most all other writing became something I longed to do, but was too busy or tired to attempt.     

Over the last few months, I've been considering retiring Getting it Write for You.  My writing here has become stale, stagnant, and uninspired - that's when I write.  I'm no longer freelancing - and freelance writing and all things related were what most of my posts were about.  How can I continue to blog about such things when I'm no longer in that realm? 

Getting it Write for You restricts me.  It seems bogus and the blog doesn't really fit my life anymore.  Now I'm in the world of parenting, working a part-time job from home and squeezing the writing in when and where I can.  

But I've thought about it for a good long time and despite it all, I’ve decided not to quit Getting it Write for You.  I wouldn’t quit one of my daughters because they didn’t quite "conform" to the way my life has changed.  We’d readjust and work it out and that’s exactly what I’m going to do here.  I've released myself from this crazy notion that I must devote every single post to freelance writing.  Maybe sometimes I will, but other things do apply.  Everything in life - every moment we experience; every song we hear; every breath we take serves to only enrich our writing if we choose to let it. 

So as I did several years ago, I'm changing the scope of my blog and I'm going to write about whatever moves me in the moment.  I'll not change the title because I long to make this a meaningful place for you, too!  May Getting it Write for You continue to teach, encourage and inspire all who visit! 

3 comments:

Lillie Ammann said...

Lisa,

My blog has evolved over the years, too. I started out exclusively about writing, but then I started writing about other things that are important to me. On one hand, you may have a more easily defined audience if you stick with one topic, but on the other hand, you have a wider audience if you write about other things. In spite of the eclectic mix of things I write about, I have some wonderful loyal blog readers, and I'm having a good time. If I were using the blog to build my business, I might to it differently, but most of my work comes from word of mouth so I don't feel constrained to keep it a business blog. I don't even accept advertising or paid posts because I don't want to have to decide if I am comfortable with the advertiser or blogger. So I say, write what you want to when you want to, and those of us who enjoy your writing will keep coming back.

Lisa Vella said...

Hi Lillie!

I have always appreciated and respected what you have to say and love that you've never given up on me over the years! :) I agree with you. I'm not using it so much to showcase skills as I am to share a little bit of who I am and like you, what's important to me.

Thank you so much for commenting, Lillie! I think of you often and hope you are doing well!

Have a truly blessed day!

Betsy Henning said...

Yes, Getting It Write For You will live on!!! And like all of your daughters it will grow, and change, and get better and more beautiful. I'm happy about that and happy for you.