Facebook, etc.

So here I am, with Theo being three months old, realizing I skipped the month of November entirely on this blog. In seven years of blogging, I don't believe this has ever happened. Admittedly, Facebook has filled in for blogging on a daily basis. Firstly, it is much easier, now that I have an iPhone, to whip out a little update with a photo. The same thing would take much longer to blog, unless I find a way to blog from my phone. Secondly, frankly, the blog world is a very different landscape than it was. It is far less of a community, and like so many other parts of society, has become corporate. Little blogs disappear, readership centers around the "famous" bloggers, who either have 5 billion comments, or closed comments. Most the popular blogs now are part of the bloggers' marketing package for their other business pursuits, which is very smart, but lacking in the community blogging once was. We hear about many of the blogging "get togethers" that contain the same famous bloggers that all know each other, while thousands of us are "spectators" now at the community. It seems to me, Facebook has replaced the "virtual" community that blogging once was. The downside is that some of my long time blog friends are not on facebook, or I haven't found them. I personally have my privacy settings set very high, and that makes me difficult to locate. I have kept my friend list small on purpose, so it is intimate, and truly full of my friends. Now, if any of you want to be on facebook with me, let me know in the comments and we'll figure out how to find each other.

The other problem with the blog decreasing for me is that my attention span is shrinking. I think of status updates of 140 characters or less to get my point across. I miss delving into something for a paragraph or two, focusing on an idea for more than a few moments. Thus, the blog continues. The thoughts are still there, in a fractured sort of way, but I haven't allowed myself the luxury of parsing and collecting and then putting forth these thoughts. And I miss it.

So, while Facebook has filled a gap for me, to be sure, and I am grateful for that, I want to continue blogging, but sadly, not so much as part of a community, but as a tool for me to organize my thoughts and work out ideas that rattle around in my head.

I also plan to spend more time with my "In Real Life" community. I have been, actually, and it is good. When I have gone through the joys and sorrows of life, there isn't a big blogger response or outpouring of support. But the people in my real life? So supportive and good to me! I must make some notable exceptions (you know who you are!) of blog friends that reach out to me in "real life" ways, and you are primarily why I am unwilling to let this place go. I consider you part of my real life.

For the random reader who comes here, and likes what they read, I so welcome you. I love "meeting" new people, or reacquainting with those who I haven't heard from in a long time. But the purpose of this blog has entirely changed through the years. I was looking for a community seven years ago, and I found it. And like so much of life, things have changed, and my blogging has changed, and my purpose for blogging has changed.

Anyway, I intend to keep this up, trying for a weekly reflection post, and then adding in to various blog groups such as {pretty, funny, happy, real} at Like Mother, Like Daughter, or & Quick Takes Friday at Conversion Diary.

So anyway, that's where we are now. I am working on a post right now called, "Birth Story, pt. 2", which is the rest of the story, so to speak, and the effects of pregnancy and birth in the months following the physical fact. I have had ripples of "birth effect" after all nine of my births, and it is sort of like a dirty little secret. Especially since my births have been by the book, normal and fairly quick! Anyway, that post will be coming soon, and I am looking forward to finishing it.

I also have a post in the works about the difficulty and uniqueness of my life as a mom of 9 children, with all ages and stages. Talk about feeling pulled in all directions!!

So, hopefully this space will continue with a smaller quantity, but higher quality. Again, for daily connection, let's try to connect on Facebook. My email address is in the side bar, also.