I listen to aplayfulday audio podcast as it inspires and allures the creative within. Her April love your blog challenge reached out to me so much that I had to jump in and participate!
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I've been blogging as The Sampler Girl since 2008, however those very early posts have been archived to my files and the farthest back that is available can be found here. I tend to rearrange and spring clean my blog as I do my house so yeah, it happens. Currently, I am very happy with this blog home and I hope you are too.
Writing has always been a passion of mine and a creative outlet for my soul to speak here online - to share with those who click in. Keeping journals to jot down favorite quotes for design inspiration (cross stitch or knitting) as well as poems, passages, and scriptures that sing to me, began with my best friend in high school in 1987. She and I purchased matching Flavia notebooks and copied favorite quotes (and recipes!) for safekeeping. The idea of this type journal, as opposed to a diary (which I kept since the third grade, with sentences choppy and short about marrying the boy from recess who threw the dodge ball at my knee or the grade I got on a pop quiz) took on a life of its own and has been part of my life ever since. I've never been good at memorization so the art of writing down, sometimes with a dull pencil at two in the morning or with a fancy felt-tip pen sitting at teatime, has been my way of remembering for later. The art of blogging takes this journal theme into a bigger notebook of sorts.
Writing has always been a passion of mine and a creative outlet for my soul to speak here online - to share with those who click in. Keeping journals to jot down favorite quotes for design inspiration (cross stitch or knitting) as well as poems, passages, and scriptures that sing to me, began with my best friend in high school in 1987. She and I purchased matching Flavia notebooks and copied favorite quotes (and recipes!) for safekeeping. The idea of this type journal, as opposed to a diary (which I kept since the third grade, with sentences choppy and short about marrying the boy from recess who threw the dodge ball at my knee or the grade I got on a pop quiz) took on a life of its own and has been part of my life ever since. I've never been good at memorization so the art of writing down, sometimes with a dull pencil at two in the morning or with a fancy felt-tip pen sitting at teatime, has been my way of remembering for later. The art of blogging takes this journal theme into a bigger notebook of sorts.
Why I Blog
To share!
To share!
When I click 'Publish' on a post, it immediately pops up for you to see from where you are in this big beautiful world. I'm a blog reader too and love to discover worlds of writing that are similar to my own: ones that delve into the very same mundane mom days I live / ones that share good eats that are simple and leftovers-driven / ones that paint a knitting journey that beckon me onward / ones that embrace my heart with color, yarn and background depth of story / ones that lighten my spirit on a gloomy day / ones that bring hope with truth / ones that echo everyday with simply joys. I design what I like to knit or stitch ... simplicity. So in turn, I blog what I like to read, what I know, what I live and what I believe.
The Blog Community
Years back I had a blog counter which told me how many times you stopped by for a visit. I caught myself getting too mired by it to checking how many readers came by this day or that, etc ... and soon removed the counter. It was a good guideline for me in the beginning but then became more of a hindrance. I blog to blog, not to count readers. Comments to posts are always welcome and a true gift to me from you as you've taken the time to write me your feedback, share a story or memory and then the conversation takes off. We're all in this passion for creativity together and it's all the sweeter when we can chat about it, right?
Blog Love
I may not journal here every day, but I do in my head. Does that count? Often I make notes about what I want to include in the next blog post and can't wait to tell you, to show you! It's exciting to write it down and makes me accountable for what I say. My brain rarely shuts off. There is just so much to learn about, so much to gather to love, so much to grasp and feel, so much to make with your hands. There are never enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do and I'm forever grateful when a new morning springs for more simple joys to be savored.
You love your blog, and I love your blog also. Keep the love flowing.
ReplyDeleteThank you sweetly for popping by and saying hello, Kathryn! Blog on.
ReplyDeleteI love your ethos.
ReplyDeleteFor me part of the love your blog challenge is sharing, having a conversation ether through my posts, or the comments I rmake on the blogs I visit. I'm not keen on blog counters either, I'd rather read one thoughtful comment that tells me someone has taken something from what I've written than knowing I've had 65 readers in all on any one day.
Thank you, Claire - yes! - reading a comment from one thoughtful reader is worth a lot. Off to look up your blog now!
DeleteI like your idea of a blog as an extension of a journal and the daily inner blog in your head. It's lovely for readers to get glimpses into a blogger's thoughts.
ReplyDeleteDid you keep your childhood notebooks? It must be fun looking back at them!
Thank you for your sharing here as I enjoyed it as well as found your blog!
ReplyDeleteAll my childhood diaries, school yearbooks and such were destroyed in Tropical Storm Isabelle when she lashed out and flooded our area about a decade ago - I miss those things but thankfully we came out it safely. It was fun reading what my younger self had written back then and did re-read them through the years back then. Ah, what is big drama to a third graders can be so trivial. lol