Shall we make blogging cool again?

A few weeks ago I was FaceTiming a friend, very messily eating my noodle soup and rambling about how much I missed blogs and blogging.

Blogs were such a joy for my teenage self, both as a creative outlet and as a means by which I could be encouraged and inspired by other women I would never have been able to “know” otherwise. I was by no means a perfect teenager (HA!), but the intentionality and convictions I did possess were fueled and shaped in part by the blogs I read. I’m so grateful for them.

In my corner of the writing world, however, blogging isn’t a huge deal anymore. So much of it now is all about building a thriving IG community, creating digital resources, and putting out consistent newsletters.

I miss the days of rambling blog posts, of not trying to sum up a complicated thought process in a way that will capture a short attention span, of posts that read more like a letter from a friend than a best-foot-forward scramble for likes and engagement.

(Don’t get me wrong…social media has so many perks, but lately I’ve been seeing more of its detrimental effects, both on my attention span, my time management, and even the way I want to spend my time. I don’t like it at all, and I’m trying to figure out what my use of it should look like going forward.

Anyway.)

I so miss blogging…so what if I tried doing it again? The way I used to, but, you know, hopefully better? Much better??

“You should do it,” my friend said, without batting an eye. “If you’ve thought about it this much, you should just do it.”

I knew she was right, but then the second-guessing came in.

But I’m a mess!

I’m not qualified.

I don’t know what I’m doing…I really don’t know what I’m doing.

But I kind of feel like I should start blogging again.

I got to chat with a friend on a hike the other day, and in talking about something completely unrelated to my hesitations about blogging, she shared about part of the exchange between Moses and God at the burning bush…

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?
So He [God] said, “I will certainly be with you.”

exodus 3:11-12a

Moses’ qualifications for the way in which God wanted him to walk did not lie within himself, but in God’s presence and calling.

I will forever, on this side of eternity, be a mess.

I will forever be unqualified in some way.

I will forever be still learning the ropes of my current season.

But I feel convicted to start blogging again…to write through and about what I’m navigating in this gloriously wild chapter of life. That includes but is not limited to:

• Living singleness well, undistracted and wholly for Jesus
• Stewarding my time well
• Cooking for one (or for a mob; there is rarely an in-between)
• Knowing and loving more deeply the heart of my precious Savior
• Being a better friend
• Reading across a few different genres…okay, a lot
• Doing my work well – whether as an employee or as a writer
• Carpe-ing the diem

Hear me clearly: I really don’t know what I’m doing, and I think I may be more aware of that than ever. I am young and inexperienced in so many ways, but if I can bring a bit of encouragement, hope, a feeling of being understood, or even just a good laugh to someone in this corner of the internet, I will be happy.

I’ll be writing primarily with an audience of women my own age or younger in mind, but I hope that my posts can be a blessing in some way to any woman who stumbles across this blog.

So.✨

Let me know in the comments if there’s a certain topic (or two or three) that I listed above that most interests you, and I just may let the feedback determine the next post!

Or I may not.

We shall see.

Till next time, stay the course!

❤ Laurel

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.