After the 18th chapter…

Posted by on Nov 15, 2019 in General | No Comments
After the 18th chapter…

I resolutely closed Everybody Writes by Ann Handley after reading the eighteenth chapter. That might not be significant, but then again, it might be. Reading that chapter gave me that final zing that I needed to be able to say the following: I have decided to resume blogging on this site after not doing so for several years. 

The excuses and questions are many: 

  • “I don’t have the time”
  • “Who cares about some small business that provides white dove releases of which most people have never heard of…?”
  • “What if no one reads it?”
  • “Why not just give up doves altogether?”

And on and on… 

What finally changed my mind?

Well, there are several reasons. For one, my perspective on writing, in general, has changed. “Everything that has significantly influenced us has been written down at some point.” That thought has been chipping away at my consciousness for some time now. Be it simply the instructions to assemble a playset or the world’s best-seller of all time – the Bible, important things get written down. 

Another reason for starting the blog back up is that one of my favorite things to tell other small business owners has been “research shows that businesses that blog get more business than those that don’t” 

Ouch.

And here I am, not blogging. 

Not to go on and on, I have had several things that have encouraged me in this direction in the past several years. A little over a year ago, I married the love of my life in human form. That is an amazing story in and of itself, though one for another time. Being married and having a lovely partner-for-life has been a much-needed courage booster. (The thought just occurred to me that we still need to do a dove photoshoot together.)

Another thing that has boosted my confidence is that today marks one year since I started daily journaling. It surprised me at how little difficulty it took to output between 150-200 words. I mostly write before going to bed, using the Journey app.

I could also add that this summer, I took two online college courses from HACC, English Composition 101 and 102. Doing so gave me a good kick, but also showed (if good grades are an indication of anything) that writing is something I can do. 

If I choose to.

One thing that has been a setback, whether real or imagined, is the daunting question of “what will I write about?” Sure, we provide white dove releases for special events, but what story is there to it? It turns out that over the years of not blogging, dozens of stories have presented themselves through the dove releases. So now the question remains: “What will I do with those stories?” What will I do with what has become our tagline: “Doves To Release, Memories To Hold”?

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