Wrapping it Up a Bit Early (And What to Expect From Here)

I am coming to the end of my 31-day series about small and simple things. While I am wrapping it up a bit early, the past month of writing has been good for me. I did not publish a new post every day, like I set out to do, but I did learn a few valuable lessons.

Lesson #1:

My blog does not fit into a particular category or defined niche. Even in the context of small and simple things, I was all over the board – talking about family, motherhood, simplicity, purposeful living, faith, and even throwing in a random recipe. I have struggled over the past several months with wanting to clearly define what I write about, but I have decided that I like to dabble in a little bit of everything. My interests and passions are varied, and I want my writing in this space to reflect me as a whole, multifaceted, real person.

Many blogging experts tell you to find out what your readers want and give them only that. Sorry, friends, but I am not going to follow their advice. I may never achieve big success in the blogging world, but I have to be true to myself here, despite what the experts say or what you might want from me. If you want posts on a specific topic, you will get them when my heart is taking me in that direction. But, if you stick around, you will also get to hear my thoughts on a variety of other things as well. (Lucky you. 🙂 ) At the end of the day, I cannot force myself to write consistently about one topic unless I want it to sound, well…forced. And that is the last thing I want.

The idea of being real was the inspiration behind the name of this blog, and that is what I am going to give you.

Lesson #2:

Posting daily is too much for me. I cannot keep up with the rest of my life when I am completely focused on publishing new content. I think I knew that before I attempted it, but I felt compelled to try it anyway. Daily writing is one thing, but publishing is another ball of wax. I need a little more time to process in order to be on my “A” game. However, the shortened time between posts did help me to get out of my head, where I tend to spend too much time, and write from my heart. That is the number one thing that I was selfishly hoping to accomplish with this series.

There were days that I had no idea what to write about, but I wrote anyway, and ideas somehow came together as my fingers hit the keys. They were not always the most inspired or polished words, but they were words that were not rehearsed or questioned for days in my head, or analyzed from the context of what I thought others wanted to hear. Polished, perfected, or not…I call that a success.

But I am really looking forward to slowing down a bit.

Lesson #3:

It does not hurt my feelings when people unsubscribe, which has happened more frequently as I have been posting more often. Frankly, I would prefer to be followed by those who are actually interested in what I have to say, as opposed to those who do not really care or simply disagree with the way that I do things.

Having said that, however, I do wonder why people unsubscribe when I talk about my faith. Every. Single. Time. A few people who read almost every post that I wrote over the course of a year, and must have found some value in my words or they would not have kept reading, jumped ship when I mentioned my religion in the context of this series. While I am not offended, I do not understand. This blog isn’t solely about faith, but my faith is the rock upon which I build the rest of my life. It, therefore, shapes who I am as an individual, a mother, a wife, a friend, and a writer, and will naturally show up in my writing as an extension of who I am. I think we can believe differently and still be friends and learn from each other, while living the values that we respectively feel are best.

Lesson #4:

I really enjoy what I do here. Through the course of this series, even when I had a million other things to do, I looked forward to sitting down at my computer and letting my fingers take my thoughts and make them in to something coherent. Thank you for reading! I have loved getting to know the few readers who have reached out to me, and I do hope that others of you might someday feel comfortable enough to drop me a quick hello, either in a comment or an email (lynnette@simplyforreal.com). Meeting amazing people whom I otherwise would not have met has been one of the biggest joys of blogging for me.

With that, I am signing off until next week. Then we are into November (Can it be true?), and the Holidays are right around the corner. I have a few ideas up my sleeve to share with you regarding that, so stay tuned.

Have a safe Halloween, and remember to savor those small and simple moments that will inevitably come up as you celebrate.

 

This is the last post in a 31-day series about small and simple things. You can read the rest of the series here.