Blogging for Sanity - Priceless

If you haven't noticed, I've been M.I.A. the past couple weeks. A post here, a post there...and then...no posts anywhere. My Juggling post made me realize I needed to reprioritize. So I did, and shut down my laptop. The house started looking decent, Dora had a mom again, Restless Hubs had a wife again, the aroma of strange combinations of foods and spices I experimented with filled the house, some progress was made in my secret product's development, and other loose ends were finally getting tied up. Amidst this blogless Restless Renaissance, like a disease, something was silently taking over me. It revealed itself to me through a breakdown I had after feeling totally blindsided by an e-mail from my client, that normally wouldn’t have bothered me so much. That night, it occurred to me why I took it so hard. At the risk of sounding corny, despite this new wave of productivity, I lost myself.

The breakdown could've been due to the fact that I spent twice the amount of time on the project that I'll be paid for. It could've been that I've been fighting with my doctor to get proper treatment for my thyroid issue. It could've been that I hadn't worked out in 4 days, and it quite definitely could've been cuz I haven't had carbs (o.k., maybe a little here and there...hey, a vanilla wafer never killed anybody) for a week. And yeah, it was also probably cuz Aunt Flow stopped in for an exhausting visit. But, the thing is, those things are happening all the time (well, once a month for Aunt Flow). But I hadn't felt that insecure, and misunderstood in a long time. Not since before the 1st blog entry I posted, and the 1st comment I received from the blogosphere

That evening, after my emotional roller-coaster of a day, I decided to revisit this habit I got so accustomed to, was trying to break, and fearfully checked this blog I had temporarily abandoned. Sure enough, I received a few comments. I felt heard. I typed a few paragraphs, and felt a big weight off my shoulders. What I realized is that blogging is a unique, creative way to meet incredibly genuine people (you!) who “get it”, it’s tremendously cathartic, and quite frankly, it’s cheaper than therapy.

I have a brand new perspective on this adventure I started for a completely different reason. Many of you already realize how priceless and invaluable the "blogging" experience is in meeting new people and creating true friendships. I kind of realized it, but I guess I didn't realize the depth of value and how vital it is for my soul to write and to receive the validation that comes in the form of comments, memes, and "unique visitors".

So, as important as my family, our livelihood, the house, and the 1200 other things I, and every other woman juggles out there, I no longer see blogging as a guilty pleasure. I no longer see it as the one thing I can really put on the back back burner. Not only is it a creative outlet, fun, a wonderful network of support; at the risk of sounding corny yet again - it's self preservation.