I Blog Because it Brings Me Joy

I started this blog because it made me feel like me, because in the midst of motherhood (a time when you are giving so much of yourself to your babies) I needed to know that I was still here.

Blogging really has become a big part of my life … well I should say our life because my husband and our family are all a huge part of this too. It’s something I work on every day, it gives me an outlet for my ideas and creative thoughts, gives me a space to connect with others and share ideas, reminds me of my passions and just brings me a lot of joy. Over the past few years I’ve been asked a few times why did you start blogging and/ or why do you blog? So, I’ve decided to dedicate an entire blog post to answering those questions.

Another big part of why I’ve decided to share all of this with you because I’ve been asked to be a panelist at the upcoming BlogIt Conference on October 4th in Toronto! The BlogIt tour will also be running in San Fransisco, Halifax, Vancouver, Edmonton, and LA as well and there is a huge line up of amazing bloggers on the panels for all of these cities and I am so honoured to be one of the panelists and can’t wait to share more about it and my blogging journey with all of you. Stay tuned for more details on the conference coming soon!

I Blog because it Brings me Joy

Growing up, writing, decorating the house and baking were all little hobbies of mine, but there was something about telling a story that brought me so much joy! I loved the idea of writing so much that I wanted to start a school newspaper at the age of 6 (I even pitched it to my principal yup … in grade one I started pitching ideas lol). Journaling was a regular part of my life from the moment I learned how to put pen to paper. It was just something I did and loved.

You can’t write how you speak!

By the time I started writing for school projects I learned, the not so easy way, that I had a voice. Back then this was criticism, “you can’t write how you speak” and now that style, the conversational tone I’m using right now, it’s my voice. It took me a while to realize this, I always saw it as a flaw…thinking: I don’t write like I’m supposed to… or I won’t do well in University writing like this. Well, I worked my butt off in school to curb my writing so it was more formal and acceptable to the “powers that be” (the people marking my papers) to finally learn that the world just wasn’t ready for this yet. Blogging wasn’t a thing yet … so this conversational tone wasn’t socially acceptable … yet.

And now that style, the conversational tone I’m using right now, it’s my voice.

Fast forward a few years (and many years into my educational career as an English major … yup in the “real world” I now teach English/Literature classes… how’s that for irony ) I learned about blogging and this entire online community of people who “write how they speak”.

I started a blog that was basically daily ramblings (I was fresh out of graduate school and needed a place to channel my thoughts). It really did last long and I found freelance writing soon after that.

Fast forward a couple more years to the week before our first baby was born, I was home for a week before he was born ( he was late and I was very pregnant) but I had a lot to say and was home alone most days … so I baked a lot, re-arranged furniture and started Josephine: a Creative Life.

The entire year I was off with our son the words were literally pouring out.

Josephine was inspired by one of my literary heroines Josephine March of Little Women; aka a woman with a voice and… even more so, the life changing events of becoming a mother. The entire year I was off with our son the words were literally pouring out (guys I would think of entire blogs posts while sitting in the dark nursing our son and, more recently I’ve written posts from the nursing chair …literally baby in one hand blog posting in another) when the words are there I need to get them out!

I slowly started connecting with an entire community of mothers who were creating things while at home with their little ones.

So many changes happen when you become a mother and writing about them became like therapy for me. The blog became a part of my life, something I worked on everyday during naps or after bedtime. I slowly started connecting with an entire community of mothers who were creating things while at home with their little ones and this was the beginning of Josephine’s Creative Career Moms series as well as the beginning of some amazing friendships. Then I started to see the unlimited possibilities when you let those creative juices flow, the possibilities seemed endless and that’s truly one of the joys that comes out of this.

The possibilities are endless!

As the years went on I truly became connected with an online community of mompreners and bloggers; like-minded women who were doing something very similar and I haven’t looked back. Guys … there is so much I could share about blogging and why I love it so much, but this blog post might turn into a novel, so maybe I’ll save it for another post. Maybe I’ll make this a series …who knows, the possibilities are endless!

Vanessa