Can I still call myself a blogger when I haven't blogged anything in *ahem* weeks?

Despite the fact that I haven't been here at My (Un)Intentional Life for several weeks - and have only blogged infrequently for much of the summer - this space has been on my mind quite a bit.  Ironically, in between the time I last posted and now I even helped give a sermon at my church entitled the Spirituality of Blogging.  My wonderful friend, Ryan - the creator and voice of The Woven Moments - joined me in designing and leading the service.  Our goal wasn't to encourage others to go out and start their own blogs, but rather to share how blogging has been a positive - and in some ways surprising - part of our lives.  Ryan followed up the next day with this excellent post about traveling along her personal spiritual path and how blogging has been a part of that journey.

Here we are in our pre-service meditative state.  Or in a state where we were trying to project the appearance that we were calm, confident, and knew what was going on.  Maybe a little of both.

I planned to write something afterwards as well but, well, I haven't.  And I don't know that I will write more extensively than what I will share today about that experience.  But I've been thinking about it and I have found myself drawn to my laptop to write a bit today in spite of (or, honestly, maybe because of) my looming around-the-house-to-do-list.

As I examined more closely why I blog in preparation for this month's church service, I found that some of the outcomes of doing so have met my expectations and others have surprised me.  From the very beginning, I wanted to use this blog as a way to publicly declare my intentions and then actually achieve what I set out to do.  My half joking way of describing this to others is that I wanted to shame myself publicly into accomplishing certain goals that I've set - especially those that have been sitting on the back burner or that I've been particularly challenged by in the past.  There is some truth to that, but it has always been about helping me find a way to feel and hold myself accountable to me - something that I have long struggled with.  There is incredible power in thinking about what is important to us, how we want to be in the world, and then actually writing those things down.  As I had hoped, I am creating positive change in my life and approaching the things that I choose to do - or choose not to do - with greater intention as a result of the writing that I do in this space.  I have a long way to go, but life is a journey and I'm happy to be on this path.

I mentioned finding some outcomes surprising.  The biggest of those is that I often find myself "thinking in blog".  I pay attention to life experiences differently because I am looking for those precious moments in my everyday life that I want to savor.  Like many mothers, and many bloggers, I can often be found behind a camera trying to capture the happy, fleeting moments that fill our days.  Be it electronically with photo books or more traditionally with scrapbooking, I - when I intentionally make time for it, anyway - am the keeper of my family's history.  And yet, blogging has subtly changed the way that I experience and think about these moments and experiences.  This blog has helped me notice more, savor more, and approach my life with more intention simply because I am looking at it through a slightly different lens.  I think that anything that helps me do this is worthwhile and I am grateful for this space.

And yet...still that to-do-around-the-house-list awaits.  So gratitude and reflection aside, now is the time for some action.  I sign off here wishing you a happy Monday, friends!


"We learn and grow and are transformed not so much by what we do but why and how we do it."  ~Sharon Salzberg