O: Over the Hill #AtoZChallenge

Who's over the hill?? Not me! The blog challenge! We're over halfway done with the alphabet. I'd thought it'd be a good time for a check in.

I started this challenge with high hopes. I wanted to get writing again. I wanted to feel less stressed about writing and I wanted blogging to be fun again. I've learned a lot so far and I've admitted a lot to myself that I hadn't really been able to verbalize before.

I will never be your go to blog for something. I write recipes, but lots of people write better ones. I do crafts, but lots of people make more creative ones. I review products, but lots of bloggers do that too. The only think I am really an expert on is myself and my family. And most days, I'm not sure I'm really the expert; I'm just more of an expert on my particular craziness than anyone else!

Lots of blogging tips will tell you that you need to find a niche. I've always struggled with that one. I don't know what my niche is. I've mostly just decided that I don't care. This blog is as random and unconstrained as my own brain, but that's what it is a direct result of!

I used to keep track of page views, and bounce rate, and returning visitors too. I haven't looked for a while, though. I decided it's just another thing that was stressing me out.

The funny thing is that deciding what to write about hasn't been stressful. If I'm writing for me, I can write about whatever I feel like. Sure it's nice to be relateable to other people, but I generally am in face to face conversations, so why not here too.

When I initially decided to do this challenge, I made a calendar list of a bunch of topics in alphabetical order. I didn't completely finish, but I figured I'd come back to it. I didn't. I lost it. Then I had to re-create it. And I didn't finish that one either. And I lost that one too. I finally made a digital copy and filled in as many letters as I could. But still not all of them. There are some days I have something especially important I'd like to say. Then there are days (like today, can you tell?) where I'm just writing for the fun and discipline of writing.

I guess that's a benefit of getting older myself. I just don't worry as much about external opinions. Or at least, I know better how to filter them. Like if Ken or my Julie said I was boring and they didn't want to talk to me anymore, then I might try to change something and spice up my life a bit. But if some random stranger on the internet decides not to read my blog, well then, that's fine. We all like different things.

If you're here because we're friends, then I'm glad to have you, If you enjoy my random ramblings interspersed with recipes, crafts, and other stuff, then YAY! Stick around. If you're not impressed, that's fine. No need to stick around. There are lots of other places to visit on the internet.