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My Blog is Having an Identity Crisis

4/23/2017

16 Comments

 
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I’m not having an identity crisis, but my blog is.

I started this blog to document my weird journey through sending two-thirds of my kids off to college and traveling around the world for a year. Now the kids are in college and the traveling is done. The remaining kid is low-maintenance.

So, if this blog lives on, what kind of blog should it be?
We’re moving to Paris. However, expat Paris blogs are a dime a dozen. I just don’t know if the internet needs another one.

There are things that are really important to me, but I’m not qualified to enlighten you on topics like politics, healthcare, the refugee crisis, and international relations.

There are topics I feel more comfortable talking about such as spirituality, religion, health, and families, but there are a million of those blogs already. For me, those subjects are for conversations with friends, not blog posts.

I could do a fashion blog, but every post would just say, “Wear whatever you want!”

So what’s a blog to do? I love blogging. I love writing down stories of things that happen to me. I love turning events into chapters of my life. I love the process of reflection and writing terrible first drafts and editing. I love how my daughter turns my paragraphs and photos into internet loveliness. (Thanks, sweetie!)

Like I said, I’m not having an identity crisis. I know what I’m about. I’m a mom of college kids and one teenager. Wife of Sam. Retired piano teacher, exploring a new career. Reader. Learner of languages. Explorer. Appreciator of toilets. Food lover. But those things don’t necessarily translate into blog material.

My blog’s speciality seems to be observation of remarkable or non-remarkable stuff and then making smart remarks about it.

I learned recently that my blog is a Lifestyle Blog. Ew. That sounds shallow and vapid. I want it to be an empowering, risk-taking, challenging, hard-hitting, nurturing, adventurous, loving, welcoming blog. Mostly for women. Because times are changing, and whether you welcome or abhor those changes, they affect women in particular because men just keep going to work and coming home for dinner. IMHO. They’re simple creatures, bless their hearts. For women, we’re constantly conflicted by work vs home, one-piece vs tankini, our aging parents vs our kids, how long to let Junior live on the couch after college, trashy vs trendy, ankle vs capri, Rachel Held Evans vs Sarah Young, Whole 30 vs Mediterranean, Fate of the Furious  with the husband vs The Zookeeper’s Wife with a friend. The list is endless.

I want this blog to be a place that addresses those things, but I also want to show you more of our beautiful world in the hopes that one day you’ll be able to get out there and see it.

I don’t have any answers for any of life’s tough questions, I just want my readers to know that somebody else has those questions, too.

Any suggestions? Comments? Critiques? Ideas? Threats? Put them all in the comments section so my blog can have some thoughtful reflections and decide what to do with itself.

Thanks. You may also subscribe if you want to read my semi-weekly newsletter.

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16 Comments
Katherine
4/23/2017 09:55:01 am

Just keep writing about your life or whatever comes into your mind. We love it and we love you!

Reply
Yvonne link
4/24/2017 12:35:08 pm

Thank you so much, Katherine! That's so sweet of you, and I really appreciate it. I'll try to think up some more stuff for you.

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Karen Kelley
4/24/2017 01:24:44 pm

A week at a glance of all the things you have experienced so we can all live vicariously through you! 😊😊😊 I have thoroughly enjoyed all you have written thus far and I know we will all be treated to even more! Shaos, living life to the max!

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Debbie Luoma
4/24/2017 01:32:19 pm

Agree!!!

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Yvonne
4/25/2017 02:29:06 pm

Thanks, Debbie!

Yvonne
4/25/2017 02:28:19 pm

But, Karen, what if nothing happens during a week? I'll have to make some stuff up. (Thanks for reading!)

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Michelle
4/27/2017 01:01:04 pm

First, something will always happen in a week. If nothing does, write about what you ate. ;-)

Yvonne
4/30/2017 01:17:54 am

Michelle, the food is so good here! AND we've been cooking in our Airbnb kitchen most of the time, which means the groceries are affordable and delicious. The produce is beautiful!

Diane
4/24/2017 04:30:09 pm

I don't have any valuable suggestions, but I enjoy what you write. There may be many expat Parisian blogs, but yours is the only one I'm reading. 😊

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Yvonne
4/25/2017 02:31:27 pm

Thanks, Diane! You and Mr. C are some of the original reasons I got interested in Europe--culture, history, you guys made it all seem reachable!

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Sami Perkins
4/25/2017 06:26:20 am

Yvonne, Paris expat blogs might be a dime a dozen, but YOU are not! I have enjoyed reading your posts over the last year, partly because of the awesome places you have been, but mostly because of your voice! That voice is still there, in Paris, so I still want to hear how YOU experience daily life there. I'm sure you will have a unique perspective.

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Yvonne
4/25/2017 02:33:19 pm

Thank you, Sami! I guess not many people regularly report on international toilet situations, you're right. I'll take that as an affirmative vote.

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Randall
4/25/2017 03:30:13 pm

I like it because unlike other bloggers I know you and appreciate your perspective. Keep it up.

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Yvonne
4/26/2017 12:21:43 pm

Thanks, Randall! You are one of my valiant male readers, and I appreciate your feedback. It's always nice to have old friends that you'd like to keep. I'll keep you.

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Cindy
4/26/2017 10:46:42 pm

Everyone has already said what I wanted to say, which is: we love hearing you! Keep it up. You are pretty much the only blog I read.

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Yvonne
4/30/2017 01:18:58 am

Wow, Cindy, if I'm the only blogger you read, that means I have no competition! I'm a monopoly!Woohoo!

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