Wednesday, August 7, 2013

What is We Are Okay

If you have been following this blog for awhile, you probably know what to expect from my writing, or maybe you don't. Of late I've been struck with a bad case of writers block. Maybe it comes from my reading other popular blogs, and wanting to conform to topics of interest which attract more readers. I think it also comes from a shift in my goals for writing.

When I first started We Are Okay, a lot of my friends from CBI were starting blogs of their own, and I kind of wanted to join in on the fun of keeping tabs on each other online. My first year of blogging consisted of stumbling onto the more extensive blogging community, and I found the joy of gaining followers that I didn't know personally offline. Following other blogs started to both improve and inspire my own writing.



However, these past two years I've started to notice a lack of inspiration. The renewed business of schoolwork and a shift in interests and life goals have kind of put a cease to any consistent writing on We Are Okay. Maybe you as a reader have sensed this.

I've tried to put elements into place to help bring back consistency to my blog. Some of you might remember my post after New Years here. In that post I tried to set some goals that would help me as a full time student to write more often without taking too much time to do it. While I've loved posting my Music Mondays, and I still have lots of plans for more "ridiculous posts" I found that instead of inspiring me, these posts put more restrictions on what I really want to write, and led me farther from my actual goals for this blog. I don't want to just mingle with the rest of hipster-dom in the blogging community. Like any blogger I want We Are Okay to represent who I am, my interests, my life, my thoughts, but more importantly I want this blog to showcase the most important thing about me; my relationship with Christ. Actually let me re-phrase that; I want this blog to showcase Christ (lets just leave me out of it!). I think part of the reason I've found my writing to be a bit stale of late is because it reflects what my devotional life has been. Some might find being at a Bible College a blessing and an encouragement, but for me it's been the opposite. Northland is an awesome place, but lately the debates about music, dress, the future of Northland, in short fundamentalist culture has been wearing out my soul. But that's a discussion for another day.




Why am I posting this at all? Some of you might have guessed where the title of my blog comes from. For those of you who don't, I'm not about to give the game away, but lets just say the title carries along the idea of wanting to recapture the aimlessness and simplicity of childhood along with the inescapable knowledge that those days are past, and the realities of adulthood and life are present. I like to write with my own blend of fun and cynicism, but I also want to be transparent and honest, and right now this is where I'm at in my writing and in my spiritual life. I'm writing this to try and stop this pattern and refocus my goals a little. I still want to write reviews of music, movies and art (my blog is a brilliant opportunity to pretend I'm an actual professional critic and writer), I still want to be ridiculous and funny, and I still want to post my over-editied brand of recreational photography. But ultimately I want people to see Jesus through my writing. I first and foremost write from a Christian, Biblical worldview and I want that to seep into all areas and topics.

I also want the freedom to write what I want and when I write it. This gives me a sense of freedom and helps me not feel guilty for posting less often than I or my readers (wishful thinking?) might like. I'm not sure if this makes sense to anyone reading but I do feel like I need this explanation to myself and my readers. I might never be one of those larger than life blogs with hundreds of readers, that posts three times a week, but instead I'm a real person, that lives a real life on and offline, and you know what? That's okay with me!  

PS: I was going to post about my trip last summer, you may recall, but I thought better of it. If you want to to know about it just message me here and I'll email you more information.

3 comments:

  1. Every blogger experiences writer's block. Sometimes I think it's just part of the "requirement" in blogging. ;)

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  2. Sometimes I think having a lifestyle blog is harder than any other type of blog. Fashion bloggers always post outfits, food bloggers always post recipes, but lifestyle bloggers have to come bearing themselves on the page and truly connect with their readers. It's tough sometimes. I find that my voice changes a lot; consistency is hard. But in the end, I think the most important thing is that you make this blog what you are passionate about--I like this: "Ultimately I want people to see Jesus through my writing." Bravo, girl :)

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  3. Don't write posts to attract readers. Write what you want! Then your blog posts will be genuinely interesting. I'm seeing a trend of writing nonsense just to attract readers, and it's so sad. In addition it makes blogs boring. Keep up the good work. I hope you'll get over the writer's block soon.

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