I got a new job half a year ago - Feminine Power Enrollment Specialist and Global Ambassador. It's a mouthful, right? What I do is meet on zoom (computer) with women from all over the world to coach them and sponsor them into the advanced and professional trainings Feminine Power offers.
I've had my own transformational life coaching practice for eight years, and adding on this new position has taken up a lot of my time and energy. I LOVE it. I get to do what I'm naturally good at: connecting deeply with people, in this case women who want to self-actualize and unleash their gifts into the world.
So apart from changing the world, I'm also still growing a large garden. Raising kids. You know, just life. It's all stuff I love to do, and I also find myself struggling to find time for things I used to do, like blogging and creating movies and other content for you.
I'm gonna have to figure out what to do with this blog... Stop it alltogether? Ask you to become a Patron so I can be better supported to continue on with it?
I don't know. I would welcome your feedback and ideas if you want to leave them in the comments. Should I go on blogging? Why? What do you like about it?
June has been filled with a huge amount of gardening, weeding and harvesting. We are getting so much food out of our garden, it's a delight.
With my new job, gardening is harder, but ever more important for my sanity: after holding deep emotional space for women for half the day, it feels good to get my hands in the dirt and ground myself in this gorgeous space.
And now that summer vacation is here, my kids help me in the garden. Sometimes more willingly than other times, but nonetheless... They gotta help. End of story.
We try to find as much time as possible to play in our gorgeous playground, the Pacific Northwest. Day trips to the ocean (or rather Puget Sound), an anniversary weekend excursion for Steve and me in Canada (hiking, biking and kayaking), journeys to the creeks and rivers in our neighborhood...
If it's outside, and if it involves physical activity, sign us up!
I finished a very quick-to-knit sweater, because it's bulky, fluffy yarn knit on big needles.
I also knitted another skirt, this time with different colors than the first one I made a couple of months ago.
I'll leave you with images from June:
~ A Father's Day picture
~ Picking wild berries in the woods with friends
~ And our new chickens that a kind blog reader gifted us after some of our chickens were killed by ravens
PS: Please do give me feedback about what I should do with my blog. And if you want me to keep blogging, please consider becoming a Patron.
I think you might hold the answer within yourself. I cannot tell you what to do, but I can say that, sadly, I'm not in the financial place to be a patron.
ReplyDeleteI think you should look at the things you value the most. It's okay if blogging isn't a high priority for you anymore...or maybe you simply don't want to, which is okay, too. To all things, there is a season.... Perhaps, your season of blogging is coming to a close, or perhaps not. Maybe you'll choose to continue blogging, or even take it in another direction entirely.
What I can say is that you have to be true to yourself. You have to keep up with the things that you truly, authentically, and sincerely value the most. And we all must accept that there is only so much time in a day and that our energy stores are limited.
Based on this post, it looks to me like your highest values are your family, working the earth in your garden (beautiful photos, by the way!), your career in feminine empowerment, and being active (with your family...outside). It sounds like you have a lot of wonderful things on your plate. As I said, I think you hold the answer within, but sometimes it helps to have someone else tell you that it's okay. It's okay to change and grow and move forward. It's okay if you decide that blogging is no longer serving your best interests or that it isn't high on your list of priorities. It's okay.
Depending on your finances, it's also fine to continue as you are, perhaps post once a month or every two months, sharing with your followers photos that you've taken since you've last shared, perhaps sharing insights from your career in empowerment and homesteading, maybe finding ways to intertwine the two, maybe by tying in the resiliency of dandelion 'weeds' with human resiliency in the face of struggle.
You could also consider using one or two types of social media if you don't want to lose contact with your subscribers. You could do as you are able and as you desire. You certainly don't have to do 'all the things.' You have options, and it doesn't have to be an either-or scenario. You could invite your subscribers to follow you on one or two social media pages as your new 'website-blog-hotspot,' so to speak, because I understand that running a site costs money and paying to keep up a blog that you use only occasionally might not be desirable. You might be able to keep some of your original posts on your social media, if it will allow you to do so.
In the great words of Shakespeare: 'To blog, or not to blog. That is the question.' Whatever you decide, you have my support, and the support of likely many others. You deserve happiness, whether or not blogging is part of that. I like to make pros and cons lists when I have trouble deciding, but I trust that you will come to the decision that best serves you and your loved ones.
Best wishes on your journey, wherever it leads. :-)
Sincerely,
Adrienne
Dear Adrienne,
DeleteThanks so much for your thoughtful response. I resonate especially with what you say here: "As I said, I think you hold the answer within, but sometimes it helps to have someone else tell you that it's okay. It's okay to change and grow and move forward." I really appreciate your feedback!
I really love your blog! But that being said, I agree 100% with Adrienne. You have to be true to yourself. You need to leave yourself enough energy to do the best you can for what you really need to take care of rather than spreading yourself too thin.
ReplyDeleteLove, Marjorie
Thanks for responding, Marjorie! It's interesting: the older the get, the more I realize that I have finite energy resources. I can't do everything that I did when I was 20! Spreading yourself too thin doesn't serve anyone in the long run!
DeleteAgree with Adrienne. (Well said!) Here's an idea: If your blog/website is costing & you decide not to continue it, why not take the content you've been posting for years and turn it into a book or series of booklets and sell. That would support the cost of maintaining the website even if you don't continue blogging. Yes, we could just print the content ourselves, but if you create e-books from your own material (WITH color photos!!), I'd rather buy it in organized form than print it myself. Good luck and best wishes - whatever you decide to do!
ReplyDeleteDear Kathy, what a great idea! I actually thought about writing a book before, with recipes, life stories, and photos... I'm gonna think about that some more! Thanks for your feedback!
DeleteI found you by chance last summer during the find Sam Sayers movement. I would never had found you if it wasn't for Sam. I find the pictures and stories about your life and family very calming and relaxing. I know live on 5 acres in Monroe wa and aspire to be as creative as you are with my own property. In saying this,you really need to follow your heart. Maybe take a break for awhile and smell some other roses that are waiting for you. You have so many gifts to share while alive,so go and share them.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this! And what a beautiful twist of fate that Sam's movement helped you find us! I'm gonna go smell some roses now!
DeleteI am also not in a financial place to be a patreon and to pay what would be of any fair amount of $$$$ to you. But I love your blog, it is relaxing to come here and read and see the wonderful pics you have. I would be very sad to see it go. Even if you just did a post once a month, it would be much better than none at all.
ReplyDeleteYour way of life can be a dream to lots of people and some may be able to bring it to pass eventually, with all your help & ideas.
Whatever you decide --- I wish you the best!
~Sue
Dear Sue,
DeleteThanks for your response. Interestingly, if someone gives $1 a month, which is only $12 a year, it does help. If a bunch of people do that, it adds up! I appreciate that you talk about a fair amount of monetary support to me, but as I said, if lots of people give a little, it really helps with the cost of the website etc!
Like the others before me, I also agree 100% with Adrienne. I wish I could afford to be a patron but I am retired and on a limited income. Some months a surprise bill threatens to sink my boat. But I do enjoy your blog and pictures. So if you continue, I will love and read it all. If you choose to quit, good luck on all you do and I hope everything goes the way you want and need it to. Bless!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Saber!
DeleteI agree and disagree with the beautiful responses you've received. However, if by "follow your heart" I am left out of your life, I would be so disappointed. So once a month would be fine, perhaps bi-monthly in the summer. I live vicariously through your experiences raising chickens (and family) and food. I'm an urban farmer with 5 raised beds. Thankfully, my community allows up yo 6 chickens but I am not yet willing to give up my green grass. I feel I would be looking for a new friend. So I vote to continue. I've subscribed to 2 knit/crochet blogs in order to get free pdfs, so I could be a patron. (I'd just buy less yarn.) You could also find a college student who could help with your blog in exchange for 1 or 2 credits worth of experience. You'd arrange this with your local college. I've read that there are individuals who would help with the farming in exchange for room & board (or with your blog?). Yes, I may have given your more admin work, but your gifts would be exponentially enriching the universe. ;)) Your journey is exciting to me, and I wouldn't like to loose you as a friend! Whatever your decision, I will keep you in my prayers...
ReplyDeleteMaria Z.
Awww, so sweet of you, Maria! Thanks for commenting here! I'm so happy to know that you find my blog valuable and inspiring!
DeleteIt takes a good amount of time and energy to post substantial blog posts regularly. If that no longer feels right to you, that is your answer. :-) It needs to be about what's good for you and your family, vs. your readers.
ReplyDeleteYou might also be finding that your thoughts are moving in different/new directions, less about the kids (whose stories may be becoming increasingly more of their own, as they get older), and more about your own journey - that's also a good approach.
As my own children move out to school and beyond, I like learning about how other families make these transitions. I also enjoy reading about the things you are exploring and making, and how you yourself are evolving.
Thanks for commenting! Yes, I really found that my thoughts have been moving in different directions, and it might be valuable to people to read about that. I do have my other blog at corinasahlin.com that talks much more deeply about my personal journey...
DeleteYou must do what is best for you and your family. However, I would surely miss your blog if you decide to move on with your life.
ReplyDeleteSeems like many of us are retired, or on limited income, but really enjoy your posts.
(Perhaps monthly instead of weekly?)
Thanks! Good to hear that you enjoy my posts!
DeleteWhen things get better for me I will send you money, hope you keep blogging.
ReplyDeleteAwww, thanks so much, Molly!
DeleteI think my comment went to Adrienne. I tag on what she says. What's in your heart is best for you!
ReplyDeleteGarden looks great! Ours is also so full of veggies and flowers! Love to you all, Lenore and John
Hello Lenore! Great to hear from you! One of the problems is that there is so MUCH in my heart, and it's a matter of priorities!
DeleteCheers to you, my dear!
I am a Patron. I send $10 a month even though I'm living on Social Security until my real estate business gets off the ground. Which seems to be a life-long project at this time LOL! I would miss you terribly, you beautiful person you! Inside and out, you are beautiful! BUUUUUT... I actually think you should NOT write for this blog for a while. See how it feels. You don't have to close it. If and when you feel like it you can write. I will continue following and I hope others will, too. Then when you get the inspiration to write we will be out here waiting. The waves go in to the shore and then the waves go out. Ebb and flow. Go with the ebb for a while. We'll still be here. XXOO
ReplyDeleteOohhh, my dear Renee, you have been such a faithful supporter, and I love and appreciate you so much!!!! You just made me cry a little here...
DeleteMuch love to you!
xoxo
having just discovered your blog, i don't have a HISTORY with it, but i enjoy the inspirational pix of someone else actually doing gardening, etc... i expect to continue seeing your progresses in the Feminine Power tribal communiques... one of my "dreams/goals/projects" is to be a "patron of the arts" person -- to support people like you doing what you do best, doing what YOU love to do... see what happens in 9 months (actually, 4 months now = TXSGVG 2019)
ReplyDeleteTeri, I love your dream of being a patron of the arts!
Delete