happy Wednesday....blogging a bit later than I normally like to...but HEY!
it IS still Wednesday!!
so...on Monday i had such a lovely experience of actually meeting a
fellow blogging friend...
FACE TO FACE...YES!!! FACE TO FACE!!!
THIS GOR-JUSS WOMAN!!
....a friend that i have talked to so many times via email or facebook or
comments we leave one another on our posts.
a friend that did a very special post just for me...encouraging me.
(and at this time we had never even met...i mean who does that anyway?!?! THIS special soul does!!!)
a friend who has helped me with advice i've needed on starting an etsy shop,
on whether i should bite the bullet and buy photoshop,
on what kinds of food i should or should not eat, etc... etc... etc....
a friend who i have shared with about the love we have
for our hubby's and how blessed we are
a friend i am so happy and grateful to call my friend!!!
a friend i made through BLOGGING!!
So....dear friends of mine...
that is my question today:
WHY DO YOU BLOG ANYWAY AND WHAT SURPRISES HAVE YOU FOUND ALONG THE WAY?????
I can't wait to hear....
sending love xoxox
That's awesome you girls had the chance to meet! You're both sweet, talented and beautiful inside and out :)
ReplyDeleteWell, about your question, I started my blog because I wanted to share the things that inspire me to create my designs, but I didn't expect to meet such wonderful people along the way and I'm grateful for that!
Hope you're having a lovely day!
xoxo
Giovanna
www.bohomarket.blogspot.com
www.bohomarket.blogspot.com
WOW!
ReplyDeletefirst, lovely cliff notes on the meeting up of two BEEEautiful women!
secondly, still don.t get sick of watching you two silly girls sitting together....FINALLY!
third, thanks for the love this morning...it was very inspired on your part...(as always! love you for that!)
forth, this is a great question and one that i have been asking myself quite a bit lately... i think it might create more questions that clarity if i try to answer it, but here goes...
i started my blog as an online journal...but quickly met 24 of the most amazing artists that i wanted to stay in touch with...right after starting it, so it became a way to stay connected to those sweet sisters as well...i.ve found that putting my "art" on my blog has been really intimidating however. there is just such a vast sea of talent out there and i freeze when i think about sharing any work i.ve done, because i.m my hardest critic and i never think it.s good enough to share.
so why am i still blogging?
i really don.t know.
the thing that has surprised me the most is that people actually read my blog. some of the closest people to me DON.T read my blog and i have made precious friendships with complete strangers who DO read my blog that i.ve NEVER met face to face....(like you did with miss kelly! whom i love and adore as well!)
one of my first blogging surprises was when sweet rachel awes sent me a photo of her rain boots just because i wrote a post about MY new rain boots...i sat there thinking...THIS IS SO AWESOME! I LOVE THIS CHICK!
i think i.ve found that writing fills me creatively when i don.t have the time to sit and paint.
see? now im all jumbled.
right now i blog because it makes me happy...i guess.
i LOVE the friendships i.ve made and the women out there can be SO DARN NICE!!!
they fill my bucket!
wow!
c
if the comment above suddenly DISAPPEARS....check your email sister...that was LooooooonG!
ReplyDeleteI thought blogging would be a fun way to share artsy creations but I never would have imagined how happy it would make me. I love getting comments, it just makes my day and even though I have a lot of "in person" friends, there's just something really special about blog friends. I just love them! So happy for you to have met your dear friend in person!
ReplyDeleteLove to you,
Jenny
great question ...You look really pretty too...I am so glad yo got to meet a blogginf friend ..wow. cool stuff..Here is why I blog ..I started blogging because I wanted to share my scrapbooking but slowly it turned in to a huge part of me that I couldnt let speak..I said things I felt that I really didnt have anyone to share with..My running and my blog came together and when i was inspired and felt like maybe what I have to say is good stuff ..I bloged about it..its very theraputic for me....just like reading the blogs I like i feel like its medicine for my soul...love you...G
ReplyDeleteI started blogging as a way to keep an online journal of my work, I had no idea where that would take me, within one year of blogging I have met (and lost) some very dear friends and for that I am truly grateful!!
ReplyDeleteMy blog life I feel has only just begun :)
Micki x
kolleen, i am sooo excited for you! i did look at your link to see her blog posting about meeting beautiful you too! looooove this!!! i began my blog because i needed to create a web presence if i was going to have much of a chance in the world of publishing, and since, it has taken a life of it's own...encouraging me to stay on task with creating, and also with the amazing "tribe" i'm meeting, like chrissy and you! HUGE gifts.
ReplyDeletexoxox
Well, dear friend, first of all - wonderful vlog on Kelly's blog! You two are just the most beautiful women and seeing you together was a big treat!! Thank you for saying "hi" to me!! :-)
ReplyDeleteNow, to blogging, I started it as a public record of my creative development, never dreaming that anyone besides my friends and family would ever be interested. Was I ever wrong! Only very few of my family and old friends actually follow my blog, but so others do.
I have discovered a community of support and love, which is something that speaks to me on all levels, and something I didn't know really existed. Now, I consider you all my friends and I am forever hooked on blogging...
Thank you for being such an inspiration to me!! You have a most beautiful spirit!! Love, Silke
I just love this photo of you -- you look very chic! That is so cool that you got to meet a blog friend . . I'd love to do that. I'm always wondering what it would be like to meet some of the people here that have been so supportive and fun {like you girl!}. I started my blog as a business thing and it took about a week for me to realize that I wasn't doing it to shop my wares -- I found out that I liked writing as a creative outlet. Then the people started to come by, and then I got to know them better through their blogs, and this little beehive was formed. That's the only thing that keeps me posting {even though it's sporadic}. I like the buzz. : )
ReplyDeleteYou are soo cute Koll...love seeing your photos always! I wish I could meet some of these amazing fellow bloggers as well someday..you have all been such an inspiration..
ReplyDeletexoxo Char
what a lovely question! making lovely connections through the blog world has been a wonderful and inspiring thing for me too :)
ReplyDeletefirst off, i can't wait to see your etsy shop. i have been thinking about that for a while now and will squeal my little head off when you do....(when the time is right of course) but i say no time like the present. (here's my gentle nudge.......;-)
ReplyDeleteone surprise, through blogging, was reading and being so overwhelmingly inspired by jennifer belthoff's blog...and then opening up on my blog soon after. it blew me away!
i love that we get to keep up with each other through this media. it puts you right here with me. it allows me to get to know you even more and its fun to watch you grow.
love you to pieces!!! my sweet kolleen, you don't know how much you mean to me. your support and love is the gentle wind that keeps me running.
((hugs)))
love.
mindy
That was such a sweet vlog. I can't remember why I started my first blog - I think it was because a few of my friends had started them and it was so nice to keep in touch with them. I felt like I lived nearby again, instead of thousands of miles away. Anyway, I like to write, so I finally gave in. Then I quit that one and started my photo blog - and then I moved over to typepad. My photos always make me happy - and I figure maybe they will make someone else happy too and remind them how beautiful the world is. And it is so fun to connect with other people in blog-land.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always love reading your blog. :)
xoxo
Kolleen ~ I just adore your say what wednesdays. I always come back to them to read the comments that others have left. :) I love this question.
ReplyDeleteYou made me go back to my blog and look back to how long I have been blogging for, since 2005 ~ wow. I was at a very different point in my life then. I remember my first experience into this world was through Andrea's Superhero Journal. I read about her in one of SARK's books and was drawn to the title *superhero* Who doesn't want to be a superhero. Through her site a world was opened up to me. This incredible web that weaves everyone together. Reading peoples post made me feel not so alone in this world. Even though I didn't know any of the women whom I was reading it felt so comforting to know that they were going through similiar struggles that I have faced in my life. I was not the only one.
I have always written in Journals for as long as I can remember and I recently was getting into photography. Therefore a blog seemed like the perfect medium for me to experiment with combining my images and my words. I enjoyed doing it but did not tell anyone except the person I was dating at the time. My family didn't know, my friends didn't know and that felt "safe" to me.
I figured there was no way they would ever find it. I mean it is only in this enormous public forum where everyone finds everything, especially older brothers. And so yes I was discovered by my family. My older brother first found my dancing video on you tube. And of course shared it with the entire family. And now when the song is requested at family weddings they do "my dance" and call it "jennys song" When I made that video I never thought family or friends would find that. So silly of me to think these things.
But after him finding and sharing the video as well as my then boyfriend sharing it with people I worked with in the restaurant I felt free. Sure it was slightly embarressing, but it made people smile and laugh ~ and that was a really good thing.
So I slowly leaked out my blog to a few souls and before long many have found out about it. Sometimes this poses a dilema for me when writing. Before I knew any was reading I really did not censor myself. The honest truth of my heart and soul flooded out from me. Once I knew people I know were reading, like my mom I have given second thoughts to what I post. But the second thoughts come and go and I post it.
I say what my heart and soul are feeling on my blog. Even if it is the messy stuff. The stuff I would have been embarresed before to talk about because I was so shy. The stuff that bothers me and really makes me feel. And I do this because I was helped by so many others brave and honest words. If I am feeling something, chances are someone else is feeling something like that as well. And I want them to know that they are not alone. Others have walked before them, and others will walk after them.
The connections that I have developed through blogging are so important to me. There are so many inspiring people out there encouraging one another, pushing one another to take the leap, and standing beside one another in the difficult moments. This is rare, and so beautiful.
Because of blogging I feel seen. I do not feel alone. And I have encountered stunning souls. So I blog for this. To feed my soul with what it craves deeply ~ connection.
All of the above...and btw who is this "secret" friend/...are you keeping her to your self? lol
ReplyDeleteoh dear, i just checked here and noticed that neither of my last 2 comments on your blog ever showed up?? what is that about? must be a user problem!
ReplyDeletelove you so much and love that you posted about this.
i started my blog not to meet people but to get outside my comfort zone. i tend to nest in my house and my insecurity and shyness can control me at times. i really work hard at fighting it. i could be one of those people who stays at home all the time and never leaves!!
blogging ended up being so much more than a place to spread my wings. the love that poured out was so uplifting...it's why i continue now. you, chrissy, silke, giovanna, bella rose...all you lovely ladies keep me going. now i have 2 new diane's in my life too. so talented, so loving. oh, and terri from the sunhine state. love them all...
love you dear friend. what a treasure to have a vlog that i can look at when i miss you!
hugs,
kelly
wow - I loved this question and love these comments! I've been toying around the idea of creating a blog...so it's nice to hear these things!
ReplyDelete