I still feel like I’ve gone into a bit of a hibernation/quiet mode. My travel experiences have been wonderful and I want to share them with you! I just feel at a loss for words when I sit down and try to tell you about them.
Sometimes it feels like so much is changing with me on an internal level that I don’t even know what to write. The travel stories end up feeling like superficial anecdotes over these larger tectonic shifts that I can’t explain.
I’ve never written much about the work I do for a living. Mostly to protect my husband’s privacy (we have a business together), but also because I have absolutely no emotional connection to that work. One of the things that has been coming up lately is a new desire/insistence/need to do work that I do feel connected to.
I think that impulse is partly because of this blog. I’m reflecting more deeply on the process I’ve been through in the last few years and have been thinking about doing that more formally through a larger writing project.
I’ve resisted the idea of writing a ‘book’ about my experiences because I found the short and interactive blog format to be such an unexpectedly healing tool. I didn’t want to change that into the solitary experience of writing a book. But what started one morning as a brief synopsis of my trip is growing into a much larger reflection of the last few years.
I’ve written pretty candidly on this blog about the fact that I had a suicidal breakdown, but couldn’t ever write about that in much more detail. I think that is partly because I knew I didn’t completely understand what caused it. Now I’m surprised by new things feeling ‘resolved’ that I was unaware were even a part of my unraveling.
So, I think my new personal writing project is stealing from my blog writing.
I’m also confused by the fact that I have so much less to say, but that my blog traffic is way up. I think, Why are these new people here? Do they want travel stories? RV shop talk? That sends me into blog-post paralysis.
But I know it is important that I keep this blog as the deeply personal space that has turned into an accidental tool in my personal growth. I need to write what comes up and not try to force myself to stick to a particular theme/topic, etc.
So, I may start to post a bit about the stuff I’ve been writing in the morning. It still feels pretty disorganized and personal – a lot like this blog post!
Take care,
Jennifer
***
55 Comments
I think you hit the nail squarely on the proverbial head when you said “I need to write what comes up and not try to force myself to stick to a particular theme/topic.” I read quite a few blogs, and I’ve found that the good ones are about whatever the author finds most emotionally important at the moment. I can often tell when a blogger is writing what they think people want to read, and it usually has a very saccharin quality. What it comes down to is that people are arriving here because they like what you write, and how you write it. Don’t worry about whether or not what you are writing is interesting. If you write what’s on your mind, the rest will fall into place. That’s my $0.02, anyway.
BTW, you’re doing a great job with it, Jen. This blog is on the very top of my list. A+
Hi Jennifer,
Well, this particular new reader is here because I followed a link you posted in an RV forum. And it was interesting, articulate and well-written. And being a fellow post-meltdown woman (but single) living fulltime in an RV I went back to the beginning and read the whole thing. Thank you so much for being.
Blogs are funny things. I had one for about a year, it was moderately popular (within a very limited audience) and I had a lot of good interaction with a bunch of really neat people. But it was about a specific phase I was going through in my life and when I dealt with that I ran out of things to say. And since the rest of my life is pretty boring and I am not a good story teller I stopped writing. One thing about a blog though, versus a book, it that it inspires two-way communication. And I still talk/chat/e-mail with a lot of the people I met through my blog.
And congratulations on that one year anniversary!!!
I read your blog because i feel a connection to your story. I have a very similar background and have never been able to put my experiences into words. It is very healing for me I almost feel like I am writing it.
thanks for sharing and please keep writing
Brenda
Keep doing what you are doing. It works for you, and the traffic to your site is proof that it works for many others too. It’s hard to define why some blogs are interesting, or captivating, but yours definitely has both qualities. There will always be the tension between disclosing too much, and too little, but you seem to be finding the sweet spot.
I understand the blog paralysis, especially when the reader numbers start to go up. Resist.
I like how Dan Martin described it – what’s “most emotionally important” – what we as bloggers owe our readers, and what our readers most connect with. You’re doing a great job in that regard, so keep going!
Thank you for sharing the process of your personal and travel journey. I look forward to every one of your posts. We were encouraged to write diaries as children and that’s how I feel about blogging. It’s a public diary with pictures and outside opinions. I find it very comforting to be able to read about your personal revelations.
I second Dan M.’s comments.
Hmmmm. Something brewing? http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101130.html
Bob
So true. It is hard to get out of that ‘expectation’ box and just write as if to yourself. Whenever I feel obligated to post…I don’t. I find it hard to balance ‘honesty’ and others’ privacy. It is fun to try though. I enjoy your perspective and your blog.
In general I read blogs that I feel some connection to. I started reading yours because of the Austin connection, but I keep reading because you write from the heart and seem like a person I would love to meet someday.
Keep writing what you feel. Don’t worry about us onlookers!
Jennifer,
I think we are on the same page about blog writing; I wrote this yesterday. I quote myself (another blogger prerogative):
“Today completes my first year of The Peregrinating Graybeard. I have now posted 365 daily postings for what I consider to be my first year as a Fulltimer…
I posted a blog for every day for a couple of reasons: 1) to see if I had the discipline for daily post 2) to experiment with what I might blog about. I have proved to myself that I can meet the daily posting challenge.
The second reason is still a little undefined but I think I will continue my same format. I will write a travel log when I’m traveling and comment on what I see, hear or read as the mood strikes me.
I am nor trying to document a Fulltimers log of perpetual vacation travel but rather the everyday life of someone living in a Class C RV full time with limited financial means that happens to move from place to place. I’m comfortable with that.”
I have loved your writing from the very beginning, and I’m always disappointed when you are missing, but awed when you write something like this.
We may not know you personally, but rest assured you are loved! and apparently by a bunch and growing larger, bunch of folks!
I think you have a book in you! It may not be the one you think it is, but you should go for it!
James
Your write honestly and fearlessly.
Fearless because you confront not only *your* fears, but everyone’s.
Everyone feels disconnected and wonders where /how to connect. Everyone feels fear of the unknown. Everyone is afraid (oh, admit, all of you) of themselves.
Is an individual really capable of facing himself (it’s a pronoun, deal with it), his demons, his secrets and finding the ease of self-acceptance.
You do /have done these things for yourself, Jennifer.
But, in a very real sense, you do them for untold thousands.
And we owe you for that.
Trish
Do not be confused why your blog traffic is way up. People are telling their friends the fact you are just being very honest with your personal feelings. So I say just be YOU.
PS– You are also a very accomplished writer.
William
It’s nice to read something that seems to come from their heart, honest feelings, not on any particular subject. Our daily lives are filled to the gills with people living illusionary world….
Yes, we come to read your blog because you are is lovely and soft and generous and caring. Some people are able to write from the heart and you have that gift. The authenticity is what I relate to.
And did I forget to say brave!
Karen V.
I don’t have any expectations from your blog. It’s almost like a friend is telling me about her day. I don’t expect she is going to be animated, or elaborate, just tell it like you see it.
Blogging is a good experience. Your travelling is a great experience. You can tell us what you want to, and leave out the stuff you don’t.
I will still read
Hugs
You wrote “I just feel at a loss for words when I sit down and try to tell you about them [travel experiences].” Would you feel at such a loss for words if you were sitting at a table with someone having a cup of coffee? No. So just write just like you were talking to a person. Works great plus you have the luxury of looking it back over and choosing some more colorful wording. Anyway I don’t think this applies to you that much. Your posts are always interesting, informative and appealing. Keep doing what you’re doing and have fun doing it. Don’t look at it as a job.
yin & yang – a little bit of everything all rolled into one evolving piece of work, even those days of silence say something… thanks for keepin’ ‘er goin’
funny to learn that bob also visits that nasa site – hoping all is well bob!
I read your blog because it is about You. the travel bits are good too, but the fact that you had the guts to do it is what drew me to you.
“Tales of Mere Existence”: Project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EsgPB5tFP0
Bob
*smiling* Jennifer – you’ve been doing this for a while now and I see the cycles of this phase. Don’t worry about pleasing anyone but yourself dearie! I haven’t commented a whole lot lately but I do read your posts and enjoy what you have to share.
Just be you.
*hugs* Kari
Excellent post! After I read it a cherished quote came to mind:
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
It’s always fun to catch up on your blog, regardless what the topic maybe. The key to a fantastic writer/author is just to keep writing! =0)
Have a great day!
I am one of the new people reading your blog. I came upon it as I searched the internet for women fulltime rving on their own. It’s something I can’t wait to do someday as I am a true gypsy at heart….moving all the time it would make life much easier if my home was on wheels…lol.
After reading a few blog entries I found myself hooked and had to go through all the archives to start from the beginning.
I enjoy your writing about your travel experiences but I’m sure I would enjoy your writing in general. Do what is best for you always.
As someone with a newer blog and fewer readers, I’ll recomend writing about what you want disclosing as much or little as you want. It doesn’t seem that many people make significant amounts of money from blogs.
Discussing my own situation is something I find hard, partly because writing it down seems to commit me to things I’ve been thinking. After blogging for a couple of months, I’ve finally posted a picture of myself, and even then didn’t identify which person I was. (but expect people can figure it out.)
MAYBE YOU SHOULD CALL YOUR MOTHER
For me – “you keep it real”. It doesn’t matter whether or not you are writing about the places you visit or this current post. The tone is always authentic. I’ve read other blogs, but what makes yours different is you allow a reader into your multi-dimensional world from deep emotional experiences and self-examination to the beauty of the Great Sand Dunes. Thank you for writing about you; for I think you often speak for everyman. (ok – everyperson).
Just keep writing about whatever is on your mind that you want to share. In the end it’s your unique experiences and how you describe them that is so interesting.
Best of luck with your journey,
Fred Wishnie
To Thine Own Self Be True (and the rest falls into place). I love your blog because it’s about you. You are an authentic spiritual seeker following your bliss and reinventing your life so it’s joyful and meaningful for you. And the unexamined life well, you know
As I’ve found peace with myself over the last few years I have also grown more quiet (amusing to my friends since I used to be quite the extrovert). Peace and quiet, now there’s a concept LOL.
I’ve only been here a few times but I think this is very therapeutic for all who are here. People seem to be on the same page and love to hear your story as a fulltime RVer and see the great photos. I think there is a sense of disconnectedness today even though everyone is pretty much electronically connected 24/7. Something is missing in our relationships and it’s a hard thing to figure out. I like your reason for not writing a book. Who reads books these days?
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