I set myself a goal this year to read 100 books. I figure between time spent on my phone while breastfeeding (thank you kindle) and time I could spend reading instead of say, watching a show I only vaguely like ad nauseam, I can crank out a book roughly every 4 days. So far, I’m 19 days in and 6 books down, so things are looking up! Most (all?) of the things I have been reading are non-fiction, something I think will help me expand my mind or be a better person or just learn something new. I’ve bounced around from Marie Kondo’s ‘Spark Joy’ to Laura Doyle’s ‘The Empowered Wife’ and even working on Samin Nosrat’s ‘Salt Fat Acid Heat’. But my most recently finished book, ‘Show Your Work’ by Austin Kleon is what prompted me to start a blog. I’ve read many different sites urging me to start a blog. I can earn money as a Stay at Home Mom! I can get a Passive Income! Perhaps I could even become famous in addition to these monetary awards!
None of these promised rewards ever motivated me to go beyond imagining, briefly, creating a blog. Pretending to draft posts and curate ideas in my head, then continuing to scroll through my Facebook feed. Austin’s reasoning was much different though. He suggested creating a blog not for the rewards, but as a way of documenting and sharing. He does suggest that if you share things you love/find useful/feel proud of creating that inevitably, people with similar tastes will find you and possibly help you expand your influences, or find new opportunities. But the focus is much more on documentation and sharing than on fame or fortune.
I’m at a very new and different stage in my life. I just became a wife AND mother, and I’m no longer working. After 10 years of fighting to keep my head afloat on my own, financially, I feel both terrified and relieved at this new challenge of filling these roles. I don’t feel wholly unprepared – as a home school student and 4-H club member I learned a ton of homemaking focused skills – but at best I am rusty. At worst, clueless. I wasn’t really planning on this course of action but when we realized how expensive childcare is (holy schnikes) plus I hadn’t worked since the 1st trimester, PLUS I was head over heels for my fresh little one, so it just seemed like the best option. In some ways it’s bliss, but it also feels like the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m learning difficulty and joy are far from mutually exclusive though.
So, I find myself at 29, trying to remember all those tiny skills that go into homemaking. Figuring out what I want to spend my free time on, rediscovering my love for crafting, and trying out every penny-pinching, side-job tactic I can contribute to get our family in the best situation possible. All of that feels like something worth documenting, and if that’s only for me, that’s fine too.
Prickly Pear Mom 