My Way

There are quite a few similarities between how I garden and how I blog. Sometimes I can be a bit half-hearted and I’m fairly mediocre at both.

Then I think how silly! As if any of it matters! Who cares if I’m not a “proper” gardener? Or that I haven’t blogged today? It doesn’t matter. But…

Blogging has become a Serious Business in the UK. It is, apparently, a way to make money. To get free stuff (oh how my toes curl when I read bloggers’ pleas for hotels to review or highchairs or whatever on Twitter).

People get validation from becoming part of various indexes. I have had a small measure of blogging success – one month I was number one on the Wikio gardening list, have been in the Tots 100 and won the MADS photography award – but I have to say it has not made one jot of difference to my life.

There have been some differences in how I feel since I started this blog in the spring of 2009. I haven’t wanted to change my blog design in case readers didn’t like it. I have wondered at times about whether posting about this or that would lose me readers. 

But what I’m doing is Good Enough. I am enough. And so is my blog. It has given me opportunities like writing for Ready for Ten and lots of things for the children (Disney invited us to a screening of Tangled, its new movie which we all loved. Some of us may have even shed a tear or two).

And it’s brought me my first ad. I did wonder if I ought to stay “ad free” but that would be a tad silly in this economic climate. So I will embrace what blogging has to offer but in my own way.

I will tinker with my design (well, actually, the lovely and very patient Liz at Violet Posy did some behind the scenes fiddling to make my pictures EVEN BIGGER), change the banner (when I find the time) and write about what I want when I want. I’ll accept ads if offered (and I like the product), I’ll accept invites if I think the children would enjoy the event.

But I’m not going to talk about “media packages” or getting more and more readers. Or lamenting about hurtling down the indexes. While it’s ok to want to improve, become a Blogging Hot Shot, have a new career, if you’re not careful it can lead to disappointment, dissatisfaction and a perpetual yearning. What I want to do is enjoy it.

Because me and my blog, we’re enough. And so are you.