The Poor Mom Revolution

Let’s be honest, I never thought I’d start a blog let alone share all my thoughts, feelings, failures and stresses for the world to hear. These are things that are super personal to me that I’ve shared with a few trusted individuals over the years, but I’m slowly realizing that those struggles are parts of me and helped me become who I am. Not only am I not ashamed of the fact that I haven’t been perfect thus far, I’ve realized that there have been surprising benefits to this whole blog journey. 

1. Therapeutic reasons
   • It’s nice to be able to get your thoughts down on paper. I’ve always been someone who enjoys journaling or having a diary. I’ve always needed to vent, share or talk things out in order to understand why I’m feeling a certain way. I consider myself a very private person and there have been times where I’ve experienced something where I’ve been completely embarrassed to share it with anyone and in turn felt alone. When I finally started opening up, I realized that a lot of people have similar experiences and struggles and I only wished someone had been there for me to talk about it. It’s been super helpful sharing my story and regardless of the number of readers, I know that it made someone feel a little less alone because when I was in the thick of all of it, that is the only thing I needed to hear… that someone else gets it and it’ll all turn out okay.

2. Building connections with others
   • A lot of the time I meet people who are feeling the exact same way but don’t know how to say it. Sometimes you feel guilty sharing what stresses you out, what scares you or even verbalizing it correctly. I started writing to connect more to my feelings and to build those relationships with those around me. Whether I’ve had 5 people or 100 people reading a blog, I’ve had a few people comment, leave private feedback or reach out to me personally that they connected with my words. That they weren’t sure how to express their feelings or put their feelings into words until I shared mine and things all fell into place. Connections to me are always important and something I care deeply about and this blog has allowed me to build those connections with people from all over the world. 

3. Reconnecting with old friends
   • One of the biggest surprises when I started writing this blog was how many people had reached out to me from my past. It always surprises me when I hear someone mention a recent post I made at Family Reading Night at my kids school, the bus stop, or a family/friend gathering. I hadn’t realized that many people had been quietly reading and relating to my posts and it sparked a conversation. I love that no matter what walk of life we’re on there is always a connection to be made.  I’m extremely grateful to have gotten back in touch with people I hadn’t spoken to for almost 20 years. Words can be a beautiful thing!

4. Learning more about myself
   • Each week I think about writing something that’s been on my mind. Something that I can’t shake, a feeling or something that I’m experiencing in real time. It allows me to get my thoughts down on paper instead of internalizing everything. It allows me to figure out my next steps and kind of guides me along the way. Since starting this weekly blog on Monday, October 16th I’ve written 28 blogs and have now passed 40,000 words. I wasn’t sure if writing weekly was practical or something I could keep up with let alone if I’d have enough to say, if anyone would engage or feel similar to how I was feeling. This was definitely out of my comfort zone and terrified me, but I also knew it was something I had to do and I’ve been committed ever since!

5. A hobby I never knew I needed
   • I’m someone that has a hard time finding a hobby or passion outside of helping others, motherhood, etc. I’ve been looking for years and I find it frustrating that I couldn’t find something that made me tick. I mean come on, my husband has a million hobbies and he always has something that brings him joy, keep himself busy or simply to relax. I’ve been searching for something that I was excited about, something that didn’t feel like an added stressor or simply more work and something I could enjoy. I’ve always had a passion for writing, whether it was creative writing, journaling or poems and one day on my car ride home something clicked. On Friday, October 13th on my 22 minute ride home in complete silence, I decided that I wanted to write blogs. I called TJ and said this weekend I needed time to write my first blog, build my website and within 2 days everyone was up and running! I never wanted something so bad. I wasn’t sure exactly where it was going to lead, but I can tell you it was exactly where I needed to start!