My little ones chowing down on some homegrown cherry tomatoes. Woohoo for me actually keeping plants alive!
I've been mentioning for months now that I would like to make some blogging changes. But as of yet, it really hasn't happened. I could use a dozen excuses but it really comes down to the fact that I haven't pushed myself yet. I like safe and comfortable so the idea of change always tends to make me nervous. But after the latest rounds of controversy that seem to just keep on coming, I've been forced to re-evaluate my blog and the reasons why I blog about books. I started this blog 4 and 1/2 years ago because of my love of books. That fact hasn't changed in all of the years that I have been blogging. In fact thanks to all of the lovely bloggers out there, I may love books even more now than I did 5 years ago.
Changes. For me to continue blogging about books and my family, they need to happen and sooner rather than later. As the title of this post indicates, I need to get back to the basics of why I started blogging. This means less drama and more of the following:
- Reading challenges that create community
- Group reads that expand my reading comfort zone
- Read-a-longs that create discussion
- More commenting and meeting both new and old bloggers
- Personal posts that allow for me to develop friendships with other bloggers
With all of the positive, I'm hoping to jump start my love of blogging once again. And I'm going to need less of the following:
- Review copies that make me feel like I owe something to the author and publisher. I don't.
- Stress because blogging about books is supposed to be enjoyable and not a chore.
- Pressure because I'm the only one who is putting pressure on myself. Time to take it off :)
- Drama that just creates negativity. I don't want that here on my blog.
2012 has been a CRAZY year for blogging but I think with a little bit of change it can end. It's time to focus on what is important and get back to the books.