John and Deladis have gone this morning to pick up our new little flock of baby chickens. I am anxiously awaiting their return and using the time with just Ivy and I to get some computer work accomplished – thus blogging. From now on, it is a goal of mine to limit my computer time even more than I already do, and to do it at times when the girls are engaged in other activities or sleeping. Lately, with trying to find our true, tuned in, natural rhythm, I’ve discovered, with John’s help, that this laptop and the work I do on it has become an intruder – no matter how much I value what I do with my computer time. It has become a source of frustration for me, and I am seeking to find the best time to work without making it hard on myself or the girls.
I have been privy to numerous conversations on the point of blogs and blogging. I have heard both extremes and everything in between. It ranges from bloggers are only attention seekers and those who read blogs are voyeuristic no different than those who dig bad reality television, to blogs are the future of spreading true, to the moment news and documenting real history and those who read blogs are seeking to inform themselves from a firsthand source. A recent conversation that I was a small part of hurt my feelings without anyone intending to. It happens often in circles of mothers, all scrambling to do it right, that one or another will say something that either knowingly or unknowingly shoots down a woman who is in the boat with them. It was said that blogs were only self promotion and a strange need of cyber culture to share their personal business with the world, in so many words.
For a minute I thought, oh my gosh, is that what I’m doing without being aware of it? Then, the next minute, I balked and was angry at anyone insinuating that that is what many bloggers do, especially mommy bloggers. Of course, as always, somewhere in between is the correct place to fall. Sure, I blog to hopefully gain some readers for the writing I do away from this site and to make folks aware of my efforts with writing and cultural preservation. If that is self promotion, then so be it. However, I would blog here even if that weren’t my goals. Motherhood, for me, here has been sort of isolating. Finding women to talk with who share similar ideas as mine is a difficult task. I so value any conversation with other mothers no matter their style of parenting, but the fact of the matter is, there isn’t much of a network going on in my area. That is the one thing I miss most of all about the city. I spent so many years without making friends in Louisville and then I had a baby and a wonderful world of networking, attachment parenting/natural family living mothers opened their arms to me. Now, I read blogs of mothers like me. There is a need to know that you aren’t alone in the world – that someone is sharing your struggles and victories. There is a need to be part of conversations with those who share your interests. I blog to be a part of the larger picture.
I gain so much valuable information from blogs. I read very few of them actually, and the ones I do are chalk full of information that I can use and digest quickly as a busy mother with little reading time. If I ever find that my blog is not providing anything worthwhile other than tidbits of things that should be kept to ourselves, like the countless Facebook and Myspace status posts of “I’m taking a shower and then laying down with my man” or “I’ll be at Wal-Mart, then the grocery store, then home”, I’ll shut it down, print what I want to save for the girls to read when they are grown, and take it off the web.
Technology is not as welcome in our home as in most modern homes today. We limit everyone’s television viewing. We don’t have cable or satellite. We have one ancient barely working cell phone. No Ipod. No video gaming system. We don’t miss or want those things, though sometimes a working cell phone would be nice with unreliable vehicles. I didn’t even know what the internet was until college, so to lump all people using computers into the cyber generation is a longshot. I squirm at the thought of paper books, magazines, and newspapers being replaced with computer screens. I’m old fashioned in this way and always will be. Finding blogging was much by chance, and I’m not sorry.
So, in the meantime, I will leave you with the glorious new flower I’ve discovered around our cabin.

Joe Pye Weed
This is Joe Pye Weed. It stands about 7 feet tall in most places around the cabin. It is named for a Native American healer who used it to treat typhus. It has other medicinal uses as well. All the beautiful foliage around here makes me want to learn what to do with them. I wanted to share this one with you as I find it exceptional and it has a neat story.
I’m also considering a new look for this site. I’m not sure if what I have now is boring. Let me know what you think.
12 comments
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September 1, 2009 at 1:48 am
exhale. return to center.
thank you for this. it really resonated with me.
i too have spent considerable time lately trying to get clear about exactly why i am blogging…what i hope to gain from it and what i hope to offer the world.
i never intended to be a blogger. i still sometimes cringe when people use that word to describe me. and yet here i am…putting my heart out there. and appreciating SO much that you are doing the same.
thank you also for the info about joe pye weed. i have been enraptured with its beauty as of late and i am so happy to learn more about it.
September 1, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Deb in PA
Interesting–I never knew people thought that about bloggers. But it doesn’t matter. We write because God made us that way. Before computers I had journals in spiral notebooks. Now that my writing is public, I have to filter it, of course, but the need to express myself in the written word is still there. Blogs are a great way to share news with family and friends spread out across the country. I have a homeschooling blog to share ideas with other moms because we’re an isolated group too. I also blog to have something to leave behind for my girls. But you’re right, we can’t allow technology to intrude on family time. Little girls grow up too fast. BTW, the look of your blog is certainly not boring!
Here is the best reason to blog: “One generation will praise Your works to another and shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate and speak of the power of Your awesome acts and I will tell of Your greatness…” Writing sharpens my acuity to see God’s wonders in the world.
September 1, 2009 at 3:14 pm
eastkentuckygal
Thanks ladies. This means alot to have the reassurance that I’m not thinking in a vacuum.
Deb – I love that reason to blog. I believe that the rich have written history, those who won the wars. I believe blogging will in some part show future generations the real history of the common folks.
exhale. – I understand cringing at the term blogger. I still don’t like that word for some reason. But, I am so glad that you do as well. You are an inspiration to mamas like me in that you seem to take joy in the balancing act. 🙂
September 1, 2009 at 3:40 pm
tipper
I think folks start blogs for all kinds of reasons-just like folks write books or print articles for all sorts of reasons. I share many of the same thoughts you do-about computers-blogging-families. I think you touched on one of the reasons blogs work-it’s the connection. You can connect directly to the writer-to the other readers-it’s harder to do that with the books/printed materials.
Glad to know you have joy pye weed at your house too-seems the wild ones around my house are taller than usually-maybe all the rain we’ve had helped them reach new heights.
September 1, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Cre
I’ve learned so much from blogs on “how-to’s” and I do enjoy those. I have tried twitter and just can’t get into it! Facebook is very…nosy and invasive to me. I have an account to keep up with friends pics as they’d rather post them there than email them but that’s about it.
It’s hard to pinpoint the reason to blog…is is to socialize on a different level, to just write or to just be a part of something outside of your normal world? I don’t know. I missed writing and journaling doesn’t work for me. Too much in my head. I enjoy blogging and the few comments I do get mean so much. I have found some faith-based blogs that have inspired me so much and given me inspiration when I needed it. I also enjoy seeing how others live…to a point!
I know you were working on routine. For me, I don’t get to blog daily but I try to find some time each week to start a couple of drafts that I can save and then schedule as they’re finished. I am up for work at 430 each morning and am trying to get into bed by 930 each night now so there’s not much time for blogging. You’ll find a place and a time for everything. Time is so small, especially with little ones. I have to keep reminding myself that they will be rewarded in character for the ability to play alone too. Just keep working on it!
September 2, 2009 at 2:34 am
sunnymama
What a beautiful flower! It’s really interesting to read how you examined your reasons for writing a blog and they are very similar to some of the reasons I do. I love how you said you ‘blog to be part of the larger picture’.
September 2, 2009 at 4:43 pm
eastkentuckygal
I am and so blessed for it. Actually, Tipper is probably right. I’m horrible at judging distance and doing math. Some of them do stand about 10 feet.
September 2, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Annita
I struggled with my reasons for blogging as well (which was pretty obvious when I up and quit one day without warning!) and for me it is a way to keep myself writing. I quit blogging, I quit writing. I made up every excuse in the book, spent way too much time on online forums and got really squirmy because I wasn’t writing. I went back to blogging again, now I’m writing articles again. It’s like it gets my creative juices flowing, I don’t know why, but it works that way for me. I just have to be careful because I tend to share a bit much, like everyone is entitled to know every detail just because I share some parts of my life. If that makes any sense at all.
We have some of those flowers in the field behind our house, but I didn’t know what they were.
As for your site, I don’t think it’s boring, I like the simplicity, but it can be fun to change things up a bit sometimes.
September 6, 2009 at 1:32 am
Kim
Hmmm…I’m about to launch a food related blog and I think my intentions are nothing but good. I want to show people how to heal their bodies the way I was able to heal mine.
I want people to know that cooking delicious and nourishing meals doesn’t have to be complex or time-consuming.
I don’t see anything negative in that.
I haven’t thought deeply about my desire to blog.
For me it is a natural extension of my love of food and my desire to write something on a daily basis.
It’s hard, as a mommy, to devote time enough on my novel that I actually see progress. A blog offers instant gratification.
The internet has made it possible for people to be informed, connect with others and share what they know.
I don’t see anything disingenuous about that.
I love your blog. It is one of the most candid and transparent I read. I live my dream vicariously through you. I can’t purchase a nice, secluded piece of property right now. I love that you write about your experiences.
Also, I don’t think you need to change the layout at all. It’s soothing and I always look forward to reading it.
September 8, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Fun Mama - Deanna
I also recently read a post that made me question why I blog. I think I blog for similar reasons that you do. Part of it is having something that is for me. So much of my day, of my life, is about someone else, and as wonderful as that is I like having a place that I can write (even if it IS about her) and connect with others who understood me. The people I know in *real* life don’t always!
September 9, 2009 at 2:03 am
breedermama
To blog is to have an instant human connection to the written word. Which is pretty flippin’ awesome. I do it personally, as others have said, to keep myself writing, to share my story, and to put out there a little of what I’ve learned from life in the hopes that it might help someone else. I’ve gotten a lot of emails about my posts and how they were impacted by it. It’s a wonderful feeling to know you have helped someone who’s face you may never see.
PS: We have a TON of Joe Pye Weed in the backyard. I love it!
September 30, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Kelli Garner
Great site, how do I subscribe?