This post is more of a “state of the blog” post than anything else. Oh, my gosh. A post with absolutely ZERO pictures, what does this mean?!! Ha, ha, ha! I have had a lot of reflection lately. All results of some personal issues I have been dealing with and it made me think where do we go from here?
A health update
I know I’ve touched on my health issues when I shared my post on Auto Immune Paleo Protocol. That is the only time I have ever gone into any of it because I knew that it could help other people. My health is something I don’t discuss on here and so if talks of health issues bother you, just don’t read this. There have been some things going on with my disease that are a little alarming and I think the result of a few things. I have been dealing with Crohn’s for over 4 years now. It’s been a journey! I have been in remission until recently after I got a sick bug.
As you know, we’ve been remodeling our kitchen now for 6 1/2 weeks. During this time, I have been trying to stay on my AIP diet and it has been a bit of a challenge at times with our busy schedules and lack of an oven or stove to cook on. I didn’t realize what an impact this would have and prepping my meals for the week has been quite a challenge without a functioning space or place to do things.
This all snowballed when I caught the sick bug that was going around. It took over a week to start to feel like I was getting better. I think the combination of my unsteady eating and my low immune system created a perfect storm. Add in the stress of our home being a disaster and full of dust and my husband working a ton the symptoms started popping up. I am going to be going for some more testing and back on a very restricted diet to heal up.
Needless to say, things here on the blog side have fallen to the wayside. It will get done, just not in the timeframe I originally planned. I’ve backed out of somethings that I could and postponed a lot of other things.
Real-time vs. Editorial time
When your health becomes a problem, you start to really see things quite clear. Over the past weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog and it’s become something that is a bit hard to manage right now at the pace I’ve been going.
I’ve also been having a real issue with real-time verses editorial time. When I think about publishing a Thanksgiving post this week and putting my Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving it makes me a bit sad. I love this blog and the work that has come of it, but at the same time I want to keep these special traditions on my time and for my family. The blog is dictating when I do things and shouldn’t it be the other way around? I mean I call the shots, why did I agree to this? Plus, I just don’t have the energy to do it all right now.
Hold up…following the sponsors lead?!
I’ve started to really dislike a lot of the “imagery” out there I see on other blogs and IG. This picture perfect world people are trying to have others believe is real life. The push of sponsors creating these scenarios to have bloggers place product and create content they otherwise wouldn’t do at this time of year or well ever. This shift in home blogs now becoming fashion blogs. Don’t send me hate mail!! It seriously just turns me off some of my old favorites. You may love it and that’s cool. I use to read them because I liked following their projects and they seemed down to earth, but now everything seems like a fashion shoot and they are just trying to sell me stuff. It seems so out of touch. Every photo is an advertisement and they take pictures just to sell clothes. I get it. You are photogenic and want to make more money, but ugh. It seems so self-absorbed. At least, I see it as that now. Maybe, I’m just grumpy because I don’t feel good and I’m missing something?! Don’t hate on me, just something I am seeing a lot of home blogs turn to and it is a major turn off to me. Just had to vent that.
Where do we go from here?
So, with a majority of bloggers now following the sponsors lead instead of the other way around, and the loss of some of my favorite home blogs shifting to mostly fashion marketing, I’ve been really thinking long and hard about 2016 and the future of this blog.
Here’s my conclusion for today. I’m taking the blog back. I’ve always called the shots, but with these health issues and some recent life changes I think it’s time to ignore the HUSTLE. I’m turning off the noise that is out there and keeping my focus on my family and real life. I thought I was doing that pretty well, but I can see where I need to make some changes again.
So what the heck does this mean? Well, it means simplicity. Doing things in real-time or what my life allows time. We’ll still be renovating. We’ll still be sharing, but maybe not as much as in the past.
Then you doubt.
Whenever you think about changing things, a bit of fear creeps in. What if I lose readers? What if my pageviews nosedive. What if the blog dies because I can’t post enough?
What if, what if…
What if this becomes the best decision for the direction I want to go?
Slowing down could be the best decision for this blog. Thoughts like “do less with more focus” come to mind. I want to show life in real-time and not editorial time. So, that’s what is going to happen for now.
Getting my Crohn’s back under control is my biggest focus. I have a lot on my plate. Dave is traveling often for his new job and I hardly get any notice before he is off. It makes it really hard to plan anything right now. I have a lot to handle with the kids and this renovation. That doesn’t leave much room for much else.
I wanted to share this today, just incase you see over the next weeks I’m not posting. Or I might just take a week, two weeks, a month off. I am sharing our kitchen once it is ready which I CAN NOT WAIT. I’ve wanted to work on it for years, so this is a really happy time for me to see it almost finished. After that, I am taking a long renovation break and just going to enjoy our home. I cannot express how thankful I am for what this blog has become and for all of you that read it and support it. Maybe you’ll hang with me for this next chapter.
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Article Source: “STATE OF THE BLOG” WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
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