Daring to Blog

Over the past year, I’ve struggled to know what to write about and share on this blog.

From 2007-2011, when I was stamping and making cards, deciding what to share was easy.  I made a nice card, wrote a quick blog post explaining how I made it and linked it to a few stamping challenges.   Lots of lovely visitors came and left nice comments. Everything was good.

Also at that time, I was writing regular tutorials and hosting challenges on Gingersnap Creations and making projects for other design teams, and that made sure I was blogging on a regular basis.

But that’s not what I do now.

My creative life has shifted towards bookbinding, creating journals and mixed media work, traveling and running my online business.  And now I can’t decide what to blog about.  I over think topics, become paralyzed and then don’t blog at all.

I’ve been struggling to decide who makes up my audience and what they want to read.  Are they the brides and travelers who buy my books?  Are they crafters who are interested in learning about book binding or mixed media? Or are they other business owners?

Then it struck me: perhaps it doesn’t matter who my audience is.  Perhaps I should be sharing the things that I’m truly passionate about and not what I think others want to read. Perhaps I should be writing and sharing what I want to read.

So, this week, I signed up for a class with Melanie Biehle from Inward Facing Girl called Share Your Story, Sell Your Work. The course is designed to help online business owners share stories about themselves and their creative journey.

I’m excited to find new topics to blog about. I’m nervous to write about myself and my stories.  It feels very vulnerable and scary, but a necessary next step in my journey. In the words of one of my favorite writers, Brene Brown:

“There’s nothing more daring than showing up, putting ourselves out there and letting ourselves be seen.”

Gulp – stay tuned….