Dear Reader… From Your Friendly Neighborhood Mommy Blogger: A Message From Cyber Space

I am honored that you have visited my website and are taking your precious time to read my words.  I realize that visiting a website is a deliberate choice you make as a reader – but if you are not a blogger yourself, you may not realize how important your visit is to me.

To me, this blog is more than a private journal.  It’s more than a collection of ideas I refer back to, a place I keep important notes and memories.  It’s more than a collage of pretty images and links which, as a reader, I may or may not visit again.  It’s much, much more than a page I will leave after a minute on my Iphone.

To me it is a place I spend hours upon hours every week.  A space where I compile what is important to me and the lessons I have learned.  The ultimate way of sharing my life, and my journey, with others.

This sharing is not in verbal words you can forget or even by email which you can delete.  By blogging I recognize that I am publishing a vast array of pictures, posts, and pages that are available for the whole world to see at any time of the day, now or in ten years from now… forever. (Unless I choose to delete the blog which, of course, does not verify it is totally gone because my images/words will be copied upon hundreds of linking websites.)  And I know this is so because I can see each of you via Google Analytics visiting right now.  (Well, I could if I was checking…)

If you have ever opened yourself up to thousands upon thousands of opinionated eyes and ears before, you will know what I mean and how I feel when I say this.  I am intentionally making my life, my thoughts, my stories public… after many hours of work from me… because I truly believe in my heart that they may be of use to some of you.

And I know what I offer is useful (for some people, at least) because I have received many messages – public and private – over the years, some with laughter and others with tears, from moms who have been inspired, and in many cases relieved, to find something (whatever that something may have been) that has benefited their life in some way.  And most people do not send messages or leave comments (I know this, too, because I am also a reader of other blogs). 

You may be surprised to learn that what you see here is not actually half of what blogging is about.  You cannot see the experiences themselves (what went into them, the history, the aftermath), the writing process, the picture taking/downloading/editing, the blogging framework decisions, the emotional reaction to comments and responses, the private emails, the link-ups, the pinterest and twitter and facebook hoopla, the collaboration with other bloggers, the hours of study learning technical terms and tricks, the consideration of widgets and plugins and ebooks and more…

But I choose to spend this time, these precious moments of my life, to share on this blog.  Why?  Because I believe it may be of worth, of benefit, to some of you… as well as to your children.  (Not because I am an expert, by any means, but because I believe in the value of learning through experience, sharing resources, and learning together.)  And because, through sharing, I am inspired as well.  I know it takes a village to raise a child, but much of my village is too busy or lives across the ocean or is absent altogether, and therefore this cyber world is a big part of where I find community.

So my message to you, dear reader, is that if you enjoy what you read here, if you find something useful, I would very, very much appreciate it if you show some love in return.  Whether that’s a “like,” a pin, a share, or a comment… I would greatly appreciate if you sometimes, just sometimes, let me know how this blog has been of use to you.  Your support encourages me to keep going, to keep sharing, and to keep blogging.

I don’t expect you to put in the hours and the time into this blog that I do – it’s mine, after all – but just a a nod of appreciation or a smile every once in a while (which in cyber world equates to likes/pins/tweets/shares) would be lovely.  I might be living down the road or across the world, but I am struggling along, laughing and crying, and finding meaning in this incredible journey called motherhood… just like you.

And if you do not care to share or to like or to pin or to comment… that is just fine.  The central theme of my blog is that we can all choose what to do with our moments a day, and I totally respect your choice 🙂

I appreciate your time, your presence, and your support… and hope you visit again soon.

Sincerely,

Your friendly neighborhood mommy blogger (Chelsea)

 

PS This website itself is relatively new – started only a month ago – but I have been blogging long before this.  A special thank you to all my loyal followers who have followed me from blog to blog throughout the years.  I’m pretty certain this will be my last stop, so I hope you stick around 🙂