I was reading an article called something like “8 Reasons Your Blog is Failing,” not because I think my blog is failing, but because I was intrigued by what exactly they considered failing.

One of the reasons mentioned was not having a focus or knowing why you blog, then they listed the possible reasons to blog and they mostly centered around making money. If I ever make any money off my blog I will post a happy dance on YouTube to celebrate. But I didn’t start this with the intention of making money. I blog because I love writing. I started writing in journals around age 6 and kept it up all through college. I imagine I would have had the oldest blog around if the Internet existed when I was little.

And then I did something I didn’t realize would have such an effect on me – I went to school for writing. My major was Magazine Journalism, and I spent my last two years of college having the desire to write beaten out of me by a big red pen. Writing was my thing! And here I was doing what I thought I did best and getting articles back scribbled and marked through with ugly red slashes declaring “Exposition!” which I later learned was the big no-no in reporting. Don’t tell a colorful story! Don’t include details and humor! Just stick to the facts. So I graduated with a degree in journalism and didn’t want to write anymore. They had sucked all the fun out of it. Every time I tried to write it felt like work. I needed to find my voice again.

Then I started the process of going through IVF. It’s not something I wanted to share on Facebook. I didn’t even tell very many people. I was just tired of trying and failing and having to tell friends it didn’t work again and again after years of failed fertility treatments. (clomid, timing, IUI, etc.) But I still wanted to be able to talk about it with somebody. Preferably somebody who really got what I was going through.

So I started an anonymous blog to help keep me sane. Something I could pour my heart into, all my frustrations and not care who was reading because nobody knew who I was. I discovered the joy of writing again while telling my story. It helped me tremendously through a grueling ordeal with a wonderful outcome. I left my blog up because when I was going through IVF I loved coming across blogs with happy endings. If you have any interest in IVF, you can read my story here, in all its uncensored glory: https://stoptellingmetorelax.wordpress.com/

After that, I knew I wanted to keep writing. So that’s how this blog was born. I’m not here to make money or sell you anything. Oh I may do product reviews because I do love free stuff! But that’s not my main objective. I just want to share my stories and interact with the people that read them. So any time someone comments or lets me know they actually read what I wrote? That’s what I consider a success. So thank you to everyone who takes the time to read what I have written 🙂