12 years of blogging – and 5 things I’ve learned!

Yesterday was my 12 year blogiversary! 12 years of blogging – something that started on a whim, as a way to have a little control of my thoughts and a place to put them. As I look back, here are five things I think I’ve learned from blogging.

Me and Mr. Pete in 2005

1. I hope I’ve become a better writer. It was one thing to be a participant in an online forum. I enjoyed arguing and debating with others who also enjoyed doing that as well. But with blogging I had to come up with my own topics and have fuller, more thought out posts. That was hard for me at first, but once I get started now, the words seem to come much easier.

2. Photography is also important. When I first started blogging I didn’t even own a decent camera. When I finally got a digital camera I had to learn how to use it and then how to make my shots look the way I wanted them to. Over the years I think I’ve mastered that, although I could stand to get some better lenses and experiment with those, especially for sports shots.

3. Writing about little kids is a lot easier than writing about older and adult children! I have a lot to say about my older children, but they have a right to their own privacy and to tell their own stories. When I do write about them, it has to be about my perspective as their mother and to keep that focus – not always easy to do.

4. My interests in my Catholic faith have changed over time. I still defend the Catholic faith, but I am more called now to the mystical and prayerful part of the faith.

Father Lawrence Lew, OP via Flickr licensed cc.

5. I used to think the personality types were kind of an interesting idea, but when I look over conflicts over the years, every one of them involved a depressive personality type. I find that fascinating, although I can’t explain it. Also, each of those types has sought to engage me – another fact that I can’t explain.