Blog Evolution
A Two-Decade Journey of Self-Discovery
I started writing personal essays in early 2008. It began as a way to process the sudden death of my dad. (He had died in the fall of 2006, but writing wasn’t one of the tools I used to cope in that first year…was too busy with denial).
In the summer of 2010, I started compiling my essays, thinking I may put them together into a book. I had a dream to write a book.
I kept this dream.
And I kept writing as well.
Then in 2016, I went and compiled the essays and self-published a book!
I had this dream of writing a book. And after researching the process of finding an agent and the very competitive nature of it all, I decided self-publishing would hit the spot!
I would feel fulfilled in ‘having written a book’ if I self-published said book.
So I researched self-publishing companies.
In the books that followed—additional compilations of essays on my life, as it evolved, as I processed it—I would streamline the self-publishing process a bit more. using more affordable methods.
In any case…
There it was, my first book!
My book!
I didn’t think I was going to self-publish more.
But I did live more.
And kept writing.
And I like wrapping things in a pretty bow.
My first book was about going from student to professional—aka living in the real world! My second book was about relationships and working on self-love. Book #3 was about motherhood (more specifically, the first year). Book #4 was pandemic poetry, entitled—shockingly, Pandemic Poetry. And my fifth book was additional essays and poems on self-love and self-discovery, which I self-published after my divorce.
Book #5 was soon followed by a revamping of my blog. MindfulNuggets.com shifted to…you guessed it…THIS!
I discovered Substack at a musician’s performance at a coffee shop. He was a musician, and, apparently, also a writer—which is why he put out promotional materials regarding his new Substack blog.
What is Substack?
A medium where you can blog, grow a following, and get paid.
Cool, count me in!
A medium similar to Medium, but different in its structure.
And while I still published some of my blogs on MindfulNuggets.com, my Substack became my new blog site.
And, can you believe it, we are 3 years in!
Some have been reading my writings since I started a listserv in 2010. In the summer of 2010, in addition to starting to organize and compile my essays, I began to share some of them on a listserv! I thought of starting a blog at the time, but a listserv of friends and family felt like a better fit. As it so happened, I would start a blog later on. My first blog was called NotSoWideAwake.com. Making light of my supposed wisdom while paying tribute to a song I loved by Katy Perry, “Wide Awake.”
Then I started a new blog and named it after my first book: TheRoadmapEndsHere.com. Then, I started another blog focusing on the self-love journey, FirstComesSelfLove.com—named after my second book. A few years later, after putting out of my third book, She Pooped, I’m Pooped!: Motherhood Year One (initially offered only in e-book form), I was like, “Gosh, I need one blog that encompasses multiple themes!!’
I thought long and hard. And hard and long. And then one day…Tada…
I was blogging about adulting, I was blogging about self-love, and I was blogging about mindfulness, personal growth, and grief. I was even blogging about the beginnings of parenting, starting with joining the “Pee-in-the-Cup Club” and thereafter other musings about pregnancy.
I needed a broader title for my blog.
MindfulNuggets.com served as a happy home for my life’s musings. Until I was knee-deep in divorce and couldn’t write a damn thing about my life because it was hella private.
That was hard.
I took a blogging break.
I missed blogging. Connecting to the blogosphere. Connecting to friends and family in this way.
I remember the first time I blogged after a long break.
It was about Tisha B’av, A Jewish holiday of mourning.
I could write about that. Easy peasy.
Finally a day that understood what I was going through.
That I could jive with and safely come—in a small way—out of my writing hibernation.
Following my divorce, it felt so refreshing to be able to blog again.
Blogging again and later putting out my fifth book, Inner Piece: Decluttering a Soul, was cathartic.
The book was all about the journey self-love and self-discovery. And of course, memories and thoughts about my dad—he is everywhere I go. Even if I don’t always consciously think about it.
My writing constantly evolves.
To me, that is the beauty of having a craft; of regularly practicing a craft. Over time, you can look back and see the journey, the changes, the process, the vicissitudes, the aha moments, the humanness.
Vicissitudes—that was an SAT word, for sure! I had to google the spelling!!
This fall, will be the 20th anniversary of my dad’s passing.
I am 20 years into this journey. That smacked me in the face—and more importantly—the heart. That turned my life upside down. That made me question everything I knew to be true (over time, not immediately—that would have been quite overwhelming!)
Writing may not be the panacea for pain, but it is truly a worthy companion.
Also by Author:
The Roadmap Ends Here, Entering Adulthood
Losing a parent as a young woman journeying into the real world
First Comes Self-Love, Then Comes Marriage
Striving to find love in all the right places
She Pooped, I’m Pooped!: Motherhood Year One
Cherished moments of a first-time mama
Pandemic Poetry
Poetry about the Pandemic experience
Inner Piece: Decluttering a Soul
Transmuting Suffering Into Strength