January 15, 2006 10:00 AM
Happy Birthday to MommyLife!
Okay, I know I’ve been like a little kid counting down the days ‘til my birthday. Believe me, I don’t do this with my real one! But my blogging birthday gives me a chance to reflect on the past year and how much my blog has come to mean to me.
I’d been writing professionally for ten years – had published three books and around 700 articles – when I decided to start a blog. My motivation was simple: more immediate communication with readers. Having experienced and gotten over the thrill of seeing my thoughts and my name in print, what I had at bottom was a desire to communicate when and where and how I wanted to. After finishing a manuscript, you can wait a year or more to see it in print. A magazine article can take 6 months to a year to reach readers. And even a newspaper column has a lag of a few days. In all venues, feedback is rare –limited to letters to the editor which make it to publication or an occasional letter or note from an extraordinarily motivated reader.
Diane Arbus, a photographer known for her unique subject matter, once said “I really believe there are things which nobody would see unless I photographed them.†That’s what motivates real writers too. It’s not about the writer, but about picking up a handful of soil (life) and sifting to find a treasure that – save for your efforts – might have been lost. Then polishing and presenting it so as to have the maximum impact.
But as someone who was sifting and polishing on a regular basis and rarely hearing, “Oh, look what you discovered! Isn’t that lovely/interesting/useful?†I wanted a more immediate relationship with my readers.
And so MommyLife was born.
Like any baby, my blog has grown and changed over its first year. As I believe children are gifts God gives us and we need to unwrap and see what he’s put inside (rather than planning their lives in advance and making them stick to our plan), my blog’s purpose was revealed to me gradually through the first year.
While I originally started MommyLife because of my need to communicate, it was revealed to be not about my needs, but about the needs of my readers – kinda the same journey I took as an author in print. So while I shared much about my private life, it wasn’t a journal but a place to share all the things I had learned and was continuing to learn as a mother.
And I had so much more to say than I ever would have dreamed! While I have continued working on books – two which were published in 2005 and two to be published in 2006 - blogging quickly became my top priority. Since my first post on January 15, 2005 – titled YoHo, YoHo A Mommy’s Life for Me! and somehow mysteriously gone from my archives – I have posted 505 entries at this site. Many of these would have been articles in print, but this year I sent very few articles anywhere for publication. Instead, I poured my thoughts and reactions into the pages here. Communicating with my readers here became my passion.
While in the past I had written about politics, I rarely wrote about that here, as it became clear to me that the purpose of my blog had nothing to do with a political agenda, but only doing my best to unburden, encourage and equip mothers to find more joy in their motherhood even as they learned to help their children find more joy in family life. Hey, mommies of all persuasions can use that kind of help!
In the meantime, I have been unburdened and enlightened through your comments – 1802 of them! – and private emails. I’ve also met some kindred spirits and developed true friendships with a few women I’ve never seen in person but who’ve shared enough that I count them as best friends.
Technically, I was blessed almost from the beginning with a savvy guy who helped me take my blog to the next level several times, even as his own calling grew to include a support service he named BlogRescue. We’ve kept the aesthetics of the site pretty plain and simple and changed stuff only when necessary (except for the recent color makeover), because as he pointed out to me early on when I was fretting that maybe it should be a little fancier like other beautiful blogs I come across – the pages of MommyLife are content driven. That is, the writing is what’s important.
While at first my sidebars were cluttered with things everyone else had, I’ve dropped them as they proved distracting or unimportant. The Truth Laid Bare rating system never kept an accurate count of traffic to my site, so why bother? I’ve kept Sitemeter because I like to go there and see where my traffic is coming from, but I’ve learned that Sitemeter is highly inaccurate also. While they currently show around 375 visits a day to MommyLife, the more sophisticated Awstats which is – I think – part of my Movable Type package shows over 900 visits per day. While Sitemeter shows 72,906 visits to MommyLife in the past year, the more accurate number is far higher but unavailable since it only goes back to December 1, when BlogRescue rescued this site from a very unreliable server. According to Awstats, there have been 36,241 visits to MommyLife in the past 45 days.
This boggles my mind! In fact, I can log onto Sitemeter any time of the day or night and see that there are always at least several – and sometimes up to 20 or more – people reading my stuff at MommyLife (No, I can’t see who exactly, but I can see the town and country they live in!) I’m not saying this to brag. I’m saying it because blogging has helped me realize my dream of better, more immediate communication. I doubt if before MommyLife that I could say that at any hour of the day someone was reading my writing.
Of course, many visits are generated from search engines where people have googled or yahooed specific words and click over here to see if it’s what they’re looking for. Often it isn’t and they don’t come back. But sometimes they find more than what they were looking for and become loyal readers.
Obviously only a small minority of readers comments here. And I hope you all understand that while I read every comment and am blessed by each one, I don’t always have the time to answer. Often they stimulate me to write a whole new entry!
But for those of you who’ve never spoken up, I just want to announce that in addition to today being my Blog Birthday, this week is also National De-Lurking Week, in which all Blog Lurkers are invited to break their silence and say hello!
And for those who want to know what I want for my birthday:
* Say Happy Birthday and consider yourself hugged
*Add yourself to the Frappr thingy up there under my picture.
*Email me a photo so I can put it on the Flickr of MommyLife Readers
*Spread the word - tTell your friends, MOPS group or Church Ladies about MommyLife
And please know from the bottom of my heart how much this circle of friendly mothers means to me!
Love and blessings to you and yours,
Barbara
Posted in Blogging, Family, Writing | Permalink
Comments
HAPPY BLOGBIRTHDAY!
Glad to have you on the blogosphere!
Now that I've been relying on statcounter, I'm curious how much traffic I'm really getting. Can you post the site for your new counter?
Thanks for your service to moms and your honesty!
Warmly,
Mary DeMuth
Posted by: relevantgirl | January 15, 2006 11:04 AM
Barbara, Your blog I read everyday, that is how I keep in touch with you and Tripp and the children. Keep writing, God has blessed you with that gift and as it says in His word, we are to use the gifts He has given us.
Love,
Debby and Dan from California
Posted by: Debby | January 15, 2006 11:38 AM
Happy Blog Birthday! I just love blogging. It is such a rewarding hobby (and mission).
Posted by: Carol | January 15, 2006 11:51 AM
Happy blog birthday, Barbara! Many happy returns. :-) You may remember I got into blogging, following your lead, after you announced yours on the national ds list. And I've also made some great new friends, all over the country, and even the world. So thank you, and Blog On!
Posted by: Julana | January 15, 2006 12:38 PM
Happy Birthday! :)
Posted by: Monika | January 15, 2006 4:03 PM
Happy Blog Birthday, Barbara! Keep blogging! I check your blog every day, and really, really enjoy and learn a lot from your writing. God bless you and your family!
Posted by: Kathy Frazier | January 15, 2006 4:25 PM
Happy Birthday, MommyLife!
As a mama I have the opportunity to influence the next generation towards godliness and pray that not one of my children will know a day that they didn't love Jesus, I am glad for this site where I can learn to do so creatively through the real witness of the heart - daily life. I'm so glad that my child(ren) will never know a day without the influence that Barbara Curtis has had on me.
Thanking God for MommyLife a little extra today...
Posted by: mrs.s. | January 15, 2006 5:14 PM
Happy Blogobirthday, Barbara!
And, thank you so very much for writing your blog. My reading your site has definitely influenced our family for the better. Our son has artwork on the walls and helps with the chores. I know that he loves feeling as though he's helping as much as we love that he does.
Enjoy your birthday week and thank you!
Posted by: gwen | January 15, 2006 9:04 PM
Happy Birthday, Barbara! I love visitin'!
Posted by: Holly | January 15, 2006 9:54 PM
Happy Blog, Birthday! (Belated in your time zone by now!)
Techno Titus 2 would sum up your influence on me. One area being mothering and family life. Another is my creatvity.
Your blog was the final bit of inspiration I needed to start my own. Your kind response to my e-mails about writing were also the inspiration and guide for my growth as a writer this year. When I start getting freaked out about all I want to do in that arena, I remember your pieces of advice...the most important one being to take care of my spiritual life. :)
Thanks for sharing your life w/your readers.
Posted by: Lexie | January 16, 2006 12:23 AM
Happy Blogbirthday to you!
I have been encouraged, informed and impressed with your blog since I came across it. I have since bought Small Beginnings and the Mommy Manual. I learn so much from you.
Posted by: Robin | January 16, 2006 12:46 AM
Happy Blogging Birthday!!!
Posted by: Cathy | January 16, 2006 9:02 AM
Happy Blog Birthday, Barbara!
I visit your blog daily and have been very blessed by your writing. Because of your blog, I have purchased two of your books (and one more is on the way).
Thank you for your realistic words of encouragement. Thank you for continually pointing us back to our Father. Thank you for encouraging me to be a better mom.
I look forward to reading your blogs daily in the year to come.
Thank you!
Posted by: Christa | January 16, 2006 9:27 AM
Happy Belated Blogday!
I think you (and your blog) rock.
Posted by: mopsy | January 16, 2006 12:06 PM
Thank you for all your encouragement! Virginia Wolff spoke of every woman having a room of her own - just give me a computer and my blog and I'm happy! You all have made this a rewarding year for me!
Blessings,
Barbara
Posted by: barbaracurtis | January 18, 2006 12:57 PM
