Women are like lionesses at the gate of the home. . . . She guards that gate, and things matter to that family if they matter to her. . . . Sisters, you are each like the lioness at the gate. This means that there has to be some prioritizing. I was taught years ago that when our priorities are out of order, we lose power. If we need power and influence to carry out our mission, then our priorities have to be straight.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Under Construction

I love to blog. I don't do it as often as I would like simply because of the time it takes to write a post, but I love doing it. My blog, to me, is my journal/family history/keeping-in-touch-with-family-and-friends outlet. But lately it's been lacking. For me. I hate how it looks. I'm trying to update that now (so don't worry, this boring gray hopefully won't last for long). I'm also very interested in having a blog that means something to other people, not just me. Up until now, the blog has been very Shaelyn-centric. Which I know people love, don't get me wrong. But only certain people are that invested in Shaelyn (ie: grandparents, close friends of me and Michael...), so it leaves other possibly interested readers out there wanting more.

Also, I've been scared to share more of my spiritual side on my blog. Why? I guess mainly because I know I have non-LDS (or Mormon) readers out there. But those same friends aren't scared to put their feelings and beliefs on their blogs, so why am I hiding mine? To me, if the gospel is worth sharing, it's worth sharing. Period. So here's my vow to be less scared to put more spiritual feelings/experiences out there. Who knows. Maybe I'll inspire someone else.

I have found a blog that I read on a very regular basis. I don't even know this girl. I've never met her, and she is a friend of a friend of a friend, so she's not even remotely connected to me. And yet I'm rivited by her blog. And I feel like I do know her, in some way at least. Her blog is very interesting, inspiring, entertaining, not to mention, very aesthetically pleasing. I'm trying to be more like her (in a blog sense at least). And she has readers - real readers that come back to her blog again and again to see what she has to say. She'll get 40 comments after a post. How does she do it? A lot of these readers have no idea who she is either. They will make comments like "You don't know me, but..." or "I've been reading your blog for a long time and I just have to share...". She is LDS and shares a lot of her spirituality on her blog, and a lot of her readers are not LDS, but they will make comments like "I'm not of your faith but I found that story to be really inspiring...". That is something I would like to see my blog do. Some of my favorite posts of hers? One, two, and three.

Any suggestions for me on how to accomplish all of this with my blog?