Why Start a Blog?

Why start a blog? Many will wonder, I’m sure. There are a couple reasons behind my decision.

This is my why…

I have always loved to write. In fact, it has always been rather therapeutic for me. When I was younger, I kept a diary and was always writing creative short stories. I loved to journal about my life, my hopes, and my dreams. Especially as I got older though, it became even more important. I had some rough years when I was in high school and experienced some big traumas my junior and senior year. Writing became a escape for me; a way to deal with my grief.

I’d like to think that I am a storyteller. I love to share my story because that is how I heal. I used to write all the time. Then life got busy and it was one of the things that I sacrificed. I’m realizing now how healing it really has been for me over the years. It is something that I need to find the time for again. Writing and sharing is something that I’m good at. Honestly, it makes me feel better no matter what is going on in my life. I’ll admit, I had gotten really good at ignoring my emotions and stuffing them away. Sometimes they can be too big for me and that can be terrifying to try and process. When I write, I’m forced to meet my feelings head on. As scary as that may be sometimes, it’s the only way to move through it. I just forgot how important writing was and now it’s time to bring that piece (peace) back into my life.

Starting and writing a blog is something that I’ve always wanted to do. In fact, I started a personal blog a few years back but not much happened with it. Probably the most exciting thing I wrote about was the chronicles of my sister and my cross-country road trip (maybe I’ll share some excerpts someday!). I was just writing to write. I had no goal in mind with it.

But now, I have more direction. Now I have something that I feel is important to write about. My journey to motherhood has completely changed me and I want to share my experience. Deciding we were ready to grow our family, the rollercoaster of actually getting pregnant, pregnancy itself, labor and delivery, recovery, everything postpartum, new parenthood … none of it has really been what I expected it to be. Not that that’s a bad thing but, honestly, there were a lot of things that I wasn’t prepared for. I found (and am still discovering) that there were a lot of things that I had to navigate on my own. There are a lot of things that just aren’t really talked about which I have found to be very discouraging. It’s conflicting to try and manage all the aches and pains of transitioning to being a new mom but also feel the need to keep up with the societal views of what being a mom looks like. It’s two sets of ideals that don’t match at all and that has been the most frustrating realization for me.

My goal is that I want to create those conversations that I wish I’d had when I needed them. I want to connect with other mamas and make space for everything “motherhood.” I will say though that I’m lucky to have an absolutely wonderful tribe, near and far, that supports me. But, even with those wonderful people, being a new mama feels really lonely sometimes and I think it’s important to know that I’m not alone in these feelings.

Whether I reach one mama, ten, or a thousand… that doesn’t matter to me. At the end of the day, I feel that there is a need for these raw and honest conversations. Motherhood is not easy and we all need to find our tribe. Whether your a mama or not, I hope you’ll stick around and join the Roots & Wings tribe.